About the Book…
Set in 1960s Bradford, The Mercy Step follows Mercy, a precocious young child facing a world far too big for her small body. She lives with her Windrush-generation parents in a crowded household where her mother’s attention is stretched between church and family, and her father’s temper is something to be endured or avoided.
Feeling like an outsider within her own home, Mercy retreats into books and the companionship of her beloved doll, Dolly, while learning early how to navigate the flaws and failings of the adults around her. Yet Mercy is nothing if not resilient. Armed with humour, style and fierce imagination, she quietly begins to plot her escape from a traumatic childhood.
Raw and deeply affecting, Mercy’s story is one of Black British culture, childhood, family and survival in 1960s Britain. Critical to understanding these untold stories, Marcia’s debut is not to be missed.
About the Author…
Marcia Hutchinson is an award-winning publisher, lawyer, community activist and former Labour Councillor who became a full-time writer aged sixty. After growing up in Bradford and studying at Oxford University (the first pupil from her school to do so), Marcia worked in law before founding educational publishing company Primary Colours and was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010. She is the co-author with Kate Griffin (under the pseudonym Lila Cain) of the critically acclaimed historical fiction novel The Blackbirds of St Giles (Simon & Schuster, 2025). The Mercy Step is Marcia’s first solo novel. She was named an Observer Best Debut Novelist of 2025.
