MERCY GOODHUE is the story of a Puritan woman who is driven to the brink of madness by the harsh religious beliefs of her time. It is also the story of a tenacious midwife and herbalist, Goody Hammer, who never gives up on Mercy, and saves her from committing an unthinkable crime. MERCY GOODHUE brings together a colorful array of historical characters (the pioneer, John Winthrop, the "heretic" Anne Hutchinson, the zealot, John Cotton) and fictional ones like the mysterious Goody Hammer who "meddles in phisicks and oyles." The story is loosely based upon an excerpt taken from the diary of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company, who in 1637 wrote about such a woman, Anne Needham Hett. "Mercy Goodhue represents the best of the best of historical fiction. It is a magnificently, beautifully written story. While authentically set in the 17th century, Mercy's story is eternal, sensitive, and affecting. Kudos to Elizabeth Kern for creating-or recreating-characters who come palpably to life and a plot that is as real today as it was in the 17th century. Mercy Goodhue is a page-turner, because it (and she) gain our sympathy and understanding. We care about what happens, and we discover a different world that resonates with our own." -Edith B. Gelles, Stanford University, author of Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage