Mercury is a story set in the 90’s featuring the Joseph family who own a commercial roofing business in small town Pennsylvania. The three Joseph sons and their parents offer a view into the different roles each play in the family dynamic, and the evolution of the dysfunction within the family and the business. When Marley and her mother arrive in town for her mother’s new job, and are noticed by the oldest son, Baylor, the inclusion of Marley into the family means that things will never be the same.

This is a character driven story that begins with an opening chapter that reveals a mystery. I was riveted. This would be such a good novel to have as a book club selection to discuss the characters, their actions (and inaction), their secrets, lies, loyalties, and fears. How the family members support one another, and fail each other, is at the centre. How, and if, they can make it through these shortcomings including the effects of generational trauma, will have you thinking about your own life and family dynamics. Examining what it means to be part of a family, and the great cost sometimes to one’s own health, wellbeing, joy, and peace.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Netgalley for the electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

In Amy Jo Burns “Cinderland,” a memoir about student sexual abuse in western Pennsylvania in them 1980s, the author gave her hometown the pseudonymous name “Mercury.” The Mercury of her current novel isn’t that scary or grim, but the undertone of this narrative is another misty, ambiguous small town setting that dares its residents to leave for better opportunities.

In this story, it’s the Joseph family, with a personally irresponsible, but actually skilled roofer, at the head of the family, and his emotionally cold wife and their three sons (all destined to be roofers). Into their lives and family arrives 17 year old Marley, who tries to bring sunshine to their existence, but whose love can only stretch so far. Marley is initially loved by Baylor, gets married to Waylon, and is almost a stepmother to Shay. She’s justifiably afraid of patriarch Mick, and she tries so hard to be loved by her mother-in-law, Elise, whose closest emotional communication to Marley is when Elise says “I used to be like you, you know. Before I knew that my whole world relies on the myth of the good man, of which there are none.”

The “present day” Mercury is actually 1999. A body has been found in the attic of the church, and the Josephs are all somehow involved in that mystery. To unravel the mystery, the story returns to Marley’s arrival and how she “disrupted” and enriched the family.

This is an emotional and bittersweet story of love, forgiveness and family entanglements. Ms. Burns’s personal experience with being in a “roofing family” adds to a unique perspective. There are philosophical treatises on rain and drought — how a roofing business reaps benefits and disadvantages from both (the rain reveals leaks to be fixed, but stops repair work in progress; a drought means work can go on uninterrupted, but new leaks and new work leads go undetected). The weather is unpredictable and the business see-saws with the seasons.

I loved this story — Marley is the obvious centerpiece, but through her the layers of complexity in each of the brothers and parents get slowly revealed. Every character has a depth and intricacy that will surprise you. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Waylon and Shay have green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): YES Geraniums do not grow in lawns and they make terrible bouquets, even if given by terrible men.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced copy of Mercury. I absolutely adored everything about this book - the characters, the writing, the way it made me think about my own life. I will be buying a hard copy of this book so I can display on my shelf and hopefully encourage one or two to read it. First day of the new year and I already know this will be a top 5 book this year.

Synopsis: “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 town is three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.

The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance. With Marley as their light, the Joseph brothers must decide whether they can save the family they’ve always known―or whether together they can build something stronger in its place.”

Marley and her mother, Ruth, move to Mercury, Pennsylvania the summer before Marley's senior year of high school. For Ruth, it's just another stop on her journey, but Marley puts down roots. The first people she sees are the Joseph men--Mick and his two older sons, Baylor and Waylon. Although Baylor introduces her to his family, Waylon keeps Marley coming back.

Although her relationship with Elise Joseph is initially good, they drift apart, but Marley begins to sense there's more going on. As Marley gets more involved with the business and raising the youngest Joseph, Shay, her relationship with Waylon deteriorates.

A Pittsburgh native, I spent a lot of time trying to place exactly where the fictional town of Mercury might be, while enjoying references to real-life places (such as Reyer's and the Veteran's Bridge). Although the author may have been taking some artistic license (Mercury seems to be north of the city, but why the references to the Mon?), or I've just been gone too long, she did capture the Western Pennsylvania setting impeccably. There's something about the grit of the area that's hard to define. The characters, especially Marley, are so well-developed. Baylor, the bad guy, becomes more sympathetic near the end of the book ,but I wish that had happened sooner (and he'd gotten a happy ending). #Mercury #NetGalley

The year is 1990, and the small, sleepy town of Mercury, Pennsylvania is about to welcome Marley and Ruth West into its midst. Tethered to nothing and no one, Marley is seventeen year-old spitfire longing for a sense of belonging, a sense of family. And most unexpectedly, she finds it at the Johnson family table. The Johnson brothers are roofers by trade, tanned by the sun and blue collar to the bone; and each, as it would turn out, will leave his mark--a permanent mark--on Marley's life in his own way.

Baylor, stubborn as a mule. Waylon, gentle and steady. Shay, the baby with a heart of gold. Together, the Johnson sons weave in and out of Marley's story until her story and their are ones and the same. And as the years pass in Mercury, Pennsylvania, unexpected triumph and tragedies pass through, too, testing the strength of a found family that Marley can't bring herself to leave.

"Mercury" is a descriptive, poignant, and wholly character-driven story about a blue collar family making its way through life and hardship in Western Pennsylvania. Like in many family dramas, its chapters are full of complex relationships and ever-changing dynamics; and for me, that was the drawback: "Mercury" felt like so many other family dramas that it had a hard time standing out for me.

If you're looking for the sort of character-driven drama that's action-packed like Chris Whitaker's "We Begin at the End," I would encourage you to look elsewhere. But, if you're looking to start your year off with a slow burn, deep dive into an everyday, imperfect family (that certainly does tug on your heartstrings in moments), this may be worth the read.

“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.”

After being a huge fan of Burns’ previous novel, Shiner, I was eager to read this one.

This is a character driven story of complicated dynamics within a blue collar roofing family. With multiple POVs and dual timelines divided into Before and After a course altering secret is revealed, we get inside the heads of various family members. I really enjoyed getting to see the events that shaped each member of the family and it really made me empathetic towards them all, especially Baylor a fellow first born obligated to be a “fixer”❤️.

According to an interview with Burns, this story is really about silence and how words unspoken can be more damaging than we know. It also explores themes of loyalty, identity, self acceptance, enabling, belonging, and family & gender roles. The character development in this book was phenomenal and I felt like I understood every character by the end. Although it started out a bit slower than what I normally read, after the first 20%, the skeletons in the closet start to be revealed one after another.

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up!

Read if you like:
🏠 Small town/rural stories
🏠 Complicated family dynamics
🏠 Family secrets
🏠Strong female characters
🏠 Multiple POV/dual timeline
🏠 Beautiful writing

This is the story of the Joseph family: Mick, Elise, and their three sons, Baylor, Waylon and Shay. The father and sons run a roofing business in the town of Mercury, PA while Elise runs the home and is basically invisible, taken for granted by her husband and sons.

Newcomer Marley and her mother, Ruth, arrive in Mercury and Marley inserts herself into the Joseph family, looking for the stability she craves. What follows is an in depth look into the family dynamics and Marley's role to all of the members of the family. I don't want to give too much away, because her position in the family changes all through the book.

Here's a synopsis directly from Goodreads:

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 town is three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.

The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance. With Marley as their light, the Joseph brothers must decide whether they can save the family they’ve always known―or whether together they can build something stronger in its place.



So, now for my two cents. This book started off great. I thought it was really going to pull me in. But, then it stared going downhill for me for two reasons. One (and this always irks me in any book), it seemed the author wanted to cram as many problems into the story for everyone as she possibly could. This always makes a story seem unrealistic to me. I understand people go through things, believe me, I've been there myself, but some things seemed like the author felt, "Well, I better throw THIS in, too."

The second thing that REALLY started to bug me as I was struggling to finish was all the characters seemed to think EXTREMELY deeply ALL the time. This was particularly annoying to me when Marley was only 19 in part of the story but was portrayed to be this wise old soul and psychoanalyzing everyone at every turn. I don't know. I guess there are definitely mature 19 year old kids, and I know we all dig deep sometimes but ALL the characters seemed to be doing it constantly, so no wonder they all seemed exhausted.

Marley was awfully assuming too, like she just had to be/wanted to be some kind of "savior" for this family when nobody asked her to. Also, she really overstepped with Shay, especially in the scenario when she had to go to the school for him. I totally get taking up for someone and helping out but screaming about how he was "her boy" and all was just over the top. Honestly, now that I think about it, I really can't think of anyone that was likable in this story, except maybe Ruth, who had sense and got out of town to live a peaceful life.

Definitely a family drama, but way too dramatically written for me. As always, you may love it and I hope you do. Publishes tomorrow. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I always appreciate the advance copies. Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to some great reading this year

This was an impressive character driven story about what it means to be a family, through love, dysfunction, secrets, hopes, and dreams.

When Marley and her mom move to Mercury, PA she is immediately drawn to the Joseph family. She initially becomes involved with one brother, Baylor, and earns a spot at the Joseph family dinner table. As the book moves forward, we learn of the many secrets the characters are keeping and the reasons for them.

It started out a little slow but if you like deep stories with complex characters, keep reading. It’s definitely worth it. This is a book that will stick with me for quite some time. It really makes you think, feel, and wonder about your purpose in life.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns is an engaging novel about a family roofing business in Mercury, a western Pennsylvania town near Pittsburgh, somewhere around New Castle, Grove City, and Hermitage.

The novel focuses on the James and Sons roofing business and the two women who work behind the scenes to make Mick, the father, and Baylor, Waylon, and Shay, the brothers, and their craft, into a respectable local business.

The novel offers a soul-searching look into what makes women stray, leave, or stay. It is a beautiful book, highly recommended for libraries and discussion groups.

Neither Elsie, the mother, or Marley, the daughter-in-law, are born and raised in western PA. Elsie met Mick near Chicago as he was about to go to Vietnam; Marley arrived in Mercury in the early 1990s as a high school senior who relocated with her single mom. For this reason, the novel does not have the culture, food, religion, and sports refences that people who grew up in Pittsburgh know and love (there are no yinzers and the Steelers are mentioned once--but the novel does not need that hoo-ray).

Mercury is a thoughtful novel that deserves to be read more than once.

This book was absolutely stunning.

This was a heavy character-driven novel, which is one of my favorite things. These characters are messy, complicated, flawed, intriguing, and mostly (but not all) lovable. Seeing the dynamics between everyone was so captivating that it was hard to put this book down. There’s also multiple POVs at certain times throughout the book, and I loved getting inside the characters’ heads in those moments.

This was a story about a young woman and how she comes to be apart of a family, and the different roles she plays within that family; it’s also so much more than that. It was about what family means, the pressures and expectations that come from being in a family, and how all of this shapes a person and their choices in life.

I know that this book and these characters are going to stay with me for a while.

"Mercury" by Amy Jo Burns is a literary gem that captures the resilience of a small-town family in business together. In this multi-generational story, Burns delves into the inner lives of the Joseph family, exposing the complexities that arise from the passage of time and the choices made in the name of love, loyalty and familial duty. The strength of the novel lies in its rich character development, as each character is portrayed with distinct personalities, struggles, and, most significantly, untold truths. Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for sending this ARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A family drama set in the blue-collar town of Mercury, Pennsylvania and centers around the Joseph family - a mother, a father, three sons, and a daughter-in-law. A story about the struggle between reaching for your dreams while managing the expectations of others. Ultimately, secrets are revealed that shake this family to the core. Can this family be saved?

I enjoyed the development of the characters and the pacing of the story. My thanks to NetGalley and Cindy Burnett at Thoughts From a Page (Traveling Galley Program) and Celadon Books for the advanced copy of this book. Publish date - January 2, 2024.

Amy Jo Burns did not disappoint with characters so well created one feels as if they know them as neighbors by the time the book is over. Each character comes to life with such realism. The writing is so poetic and dynamic one can imagine the scene. A story that unfolded brilliantly from the first page and kept me intrigued to the last page. I devoured it in 2 days and will eagerly wait for another of her books. It was my last book of 2023 and will be book 75 and one of my favorites. I will be informing others to put Mercury on their reading list!

4.5 stars. This is that perfect kind of quiet family drama done the right way. It took a little while to get into the story but once I did, I was hooked. The characters were all complex and their secrets were slowly revealed over the course of the novel in a way that kept me turning pages. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advance copy!

When I first picked up this book I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I thought this was going to be a suspense and was very pleasantly surprised that it is a character driven family drama (one of my favorite genres!).
When 17 year old Marley West first drives into Mercury, PA, the first people she sees are Mick Joseph and his two sons, Baylor and Waylon (18 & 17 respectively) standing atop a roof. Within a few weeks Marley finds herself woven into the family and their family business. Loved by the boys and their 10 year old brother Shay, hated by their mother Elise, and ignored by Mick, Marley quickly finds herself at the center of the family- their problems, their secrets, and their hearts.
Taking place during the years of 1990-1999, Amy Jo Burns has given us a family drama that will have you glued to the pages. I have to admit the first 30% was very slow moving and I wasn’t quite sure I would like it, but as soon as it picked up, it took off running and I couldn’t put it down.
The depth of Ms. Burns’ writing is something truly spectacular despite the slow beginning and her characters are three dimensional and jump off the page at every moment. This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Burns but it certainly won’t be the last. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy. This gem hits the shelves on January 2nd.

This is a novel for those who enjoy a close encounter with the emotional life of a family - an examination of its ties and its divides.
The story is of a girl, Marley, new in town, who sets her sights on becoming a member of the Joseph family as: girlfriend, spouse and substitute mom to one of its three brothers; confidant to the mother whose mental state is shaky; bookkeeper and conscience of the father who thinks only of keeping his business alive but can’t balance the books.
The novel is entirely character-driven. It is not actually much of the mystery it starts out, in parts, to be. Therefore, you have to engage with the characters and the world of the roofing contractor, which is the Joseph family’s business and forms the backbone of the minimalist plot and action in this book.
I have to say that the members of the Joseph family did not intrigue me, and neither did the small-town roofing contractor setting. (I apologize, but I only made it 60% through this book.) Without spoiling the story for others by being specific, I found Marley, the wannabe Joseph, to be vacuously unaware of the repercussions of the decisions she made. I also found she shucked off a series of life-changing events with remarkable ease and moved on without missing beat. Could anyone really do that?
The writing was good with some noteworthy insights into family relationships. I found the opening chapters of the book to be written in a heated rush, as if the author was scared of losing a reader by taking breath. But once Marley got married, the pace calmed down and the deep dive into characters and their motivations began in earnest.
As I said at the start of this review, if you enjoy prolonged character analysis of a close-knit group this book would be for you.

The Joseph family is well established in Mercury, a small town in Western Pennsylvania where they don’t get a lot of new residents. The Josephs are known for their father, Mick’s, somewhat erratic actions, the two older sons who like to fight, and their roofing company. Each family member has a very distinctive personality, and thrown into the mix is Marley, daughter of a single mother who recently moved to the town.
Mercury definitely has a different twist on the dysfunctional family theme with its focus on the men in the family. Ms. Burns tells an interesting story, but be prepared - the lives of the characters are all so sad you might end up a bit depressed. Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon for the opportunity to read Mercury in exchange for an honest review.

An incredible novel that follows Marley's unexpected journey into the intricate web of the Joseph brothers' lives. From the moment she meets them when she arrives in the small town of Mercury with her single mother, her world is forever altered as she becomes entangled in the complexities of familial bonds and the trials of love, loss, and resilience. This novel is hard to but down, and I will continue thinking about it for months. Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this bookl!

I devoured this book. I got so invested in the characters. The synopsis says it perfectly "The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all." It's set in the 90s which was very nostalgic for me.

This is one of the main picks for Book of the Month, or you can get it anywhere January 2nd!

Thank you @netgalley and @celadonbooks for the earc in exchange for my honest review!

An interesting read.
Two women, Elise and Marley, are the linchpins for the Joseph family. The husband three sons and the grandson revolve around the two women.
Burns tells the story from different viewpoints.
I found that the novel lacked some depth. I just didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, they were gliding along the surface, but nothing in depth was plumbed.