House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome back Marcia Hutchinson on Tuesday 5th of May to discuss her Women Fiction Longlist title ‘The Mercy Step’.

The evening will begin at 6pm, and involve a discussion, a Q&A, and a chance to get your book signed by Marcia. Marcia will be in conversation with Pete Kalu, a Mancunian poet, writer and playwright.

About the Book

Bradford, December 1962.

A precocious Mercy makes her reluctant entrance into the world, torn from the warm embrace of her mother’s womb, to a chaotic household that seems to have no place for her. Her siblings do not understand her, her mother’s attention is given to the Church, and the entire family lives at the whims of her father’s quick temper.

Left to herself, Mercy finds solace in books, her imagination, and the quiet comfort of her faithful toy, Dolly. But escapism has its limits, and as the grip of family, faith and fear threatens to close in, Mercy learns she must act if she wants a different future; one where she is seen, heard, and her family set free.

About the Author

Marcia Hutchinson was born in Manningham, Bradford, the seventh of nine children to Windrush generation Jamaican parents. The first pupil from her school to go to Oxford, Marcia worked as a lawyer before returning to the North and founding the educational publishing company Primary Colours. She was awarded an MBE in 2011 for her services to Cultural Diversity. Now a full-time writer and member of the Black Writers’ Guild, Marcia’s solo literary debut, The Mercy Step (Cassava Republic Press), was published in July 2025, and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026. The Mercy Step was also nominated for the Nibbies Book of the Year ‘Discover’ Category.