Mercury

by Amy Jo Burns

Book Overview

A roofing family's bonds of loyalty are tested when they uncover a long-hidden secret at the heart of their blue-collar town--from Amy Jo Burns, author of the critically acclaimed novel Shiner

It's 1990 and seventeen-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone's table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250908566
• ISBN13: 9781250908568
• Release Date: January 2024
• Publisher: Celadon Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Slice of Life in a Small Town

This is an interesting story about how a young woman named Marley and her mother move to a little town called Mercury where she becomes entwined with a certain roofing family, the Josephs. It ranges back and forth in time, starting with the discovery of a body in the church attic and then jumping back with the various viewpoints of Marley and the Joseph brothers, Baylor, Waylon, and Shay. It may be a small town but there are big secrets that Marley learns ( about Elise) and is a part of and she does her best to stay afloat with it all and grow fast to take care of them, their business, and the son she has with Waylon. I really admire her for being willing to take such a big responsibility upon her shoulders, even when she doesn’t make the best choices. I still rooted for and the brothers, they were able to keep the roofing business running despite Mick’s flamboyant ideas that used up so much of the company account. He and Elise were not so easy to like but made a good foil for Marley and Waylon. This book has sweet points, heartbreak, sadness, and joy and I really came to love how human the characters were, none of them are perfect but each of them left marks on the others to make them who they were by the time the body is uncovered.

Well written complex family drama

Mercury follows seventeen-year-old Marley West, the new girl in the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania, a town which sees few incoming people. It begins in the 1990s and follows Marley and the Josephs, a family of roofers, over many years. It is told primarily through Marley's point of view, but also through those of the other family members, which allows for deeper character development. Mercury is an intense character-based slow burn family drama which explores themes of complex family dynamics and dysfunction, found family, intergenerational trauma, mental health, and the expectations and roles that are placed on women within a family. The writing was engaging and immersive and Marley's strong voice and character carry the reader through the story. I especially liked the character of Marley's mother.