Review: Mercury (by Amy Jo Burns)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

I'm somewhat behind with my reading goals this month, as I took on a bit more than I should have with school and work, plus an unexpected family incident upended some of my plans for this week — but the good news is that, going into next month, I was able to sort things out so that I should be able to get my reading back on track very soon.

With that said, I was able to squeeze in and finish another January ARC a couple days ago, Mercury by Amy Jo Burns — a book that I've been wanting to read ever since I found out about it several months back.  I had read Burns's fiction debut Shiner (she had written a memoir prior to it) a few years back for book club and it became one of my favorite reads that year (one that I had rated 5 stars).  There was so much I loved about that book:  the lyrical, immersive writing that flowed so beautifully that I found myself highlighting one quotable sentence after another; the atmospheric portrayal of time and place that made me feel as though I was right there alongside the characters; and of course, the strong female characters (the heart and soul of the story) who loved fiercely and devotedly, yet rarely got anything in return, instead having to forge their own paths in a world dominated by men whose power often when unchallenged and unchecked. (For more of my thoughts on Shiner, please check out my review of it). While Burns's second novel, Mercury was a fantastic read that I loved quite a lot, if I had to choose between the two, Shiner would still be my favorite.

Mercury is about a family of roofers who live in a "great house" in the small river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania — the family patriarch Mick Joseph, his wife Elise, and their three boys Baylor, Waylon, and Shay.  One day in 1990, teenager Marley West arrives in Mercury with her mother Ruth and while stopped at a light they spot 3 men standing atop a roof at the far side of the road. The next day, Marley encounters two of the men (the Joseph brothers) at a baseball game, where she also meets the youngest Joseph brother (10-year-old Shay) as well as their mother Elise — a woman who was beautiful, impeccably dressed, unapologetically cool and collected in a way Marley had never seen before, and also had the ability to "command attention [from everyone around her but especially from her boys] with a single word."  Marley is captivated by this family and as a perpetual loner who is tired of having to move from town to town, she yearns for a seat at the Joseph family table. Soon, that's exactly what happens, as Marley's world becomes inextricably melded with the family's.  As she comes to understand the Joseph family dynamics though, and encounters one difficulty after another, Marley soon realizes that she got more than she had bargained for.  Years later, a discovery in the church attic unearths past hurts and the family finds themselves on the brink of falling apart. As the Josephs scramble to save their family, they must also rethink their priorities and decide what matters most to them.

Just like with Shiner, there were many things I loved about this book:  the writing, of course, which was engaging and immersive and made me feel transported to the small town of Mercury; the characters were also well-developed and wonderfully drawn, especially the 3 Joseph brothers, who each had their own distinctive personalities as well as strengths and weaknesses (though admittedly, I couldn't stand the patriarch of the family, Mick, who, to me, seemed to be a reincarnation of Briar from Shiner); most of all though, I loved the women in this story — Marley and Jade especially, and even Elise to some extent — who were all strong in their own distinctive ways and fought to forge a path for themselves despite society's convictions and judgments.  My one complaint is that there was a tad more romance than I expected, which made some scenes come across a little "soapy" to me, but luckily it wasn't overwhelming so didn't detract from the story too much.

Overall, this is definitely a story worth reading.  One of the things I love about Amy Jo Burns is that she writes with lot of heart and empathy for her characters — even the "bad" characters are written in a way that you end up feeling sorry for them rather than hating them.  I will admit that, despite the dysfunction of the Joseph family, I couldn't help rooting for all of them (this is saying something, since dysfunctional family stories can be a hit or miss for me).  I felt invested in the ups and downs that this family goes through — both the heartbreaking moments and the joyous ones — but most of all, I appreciated the message of resilience and hope that Marley's experiences especially demonstrated.  

This was a wonderful read and I can't wait to see what Burns comes up with next!

Received ARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley.

Review: Shiner (by Amy Jo Burns)

My Rating: 5 stars

I had actually received an ARC of this book over a year ago and even though, at that time, I had every intention of reading it, life unfortunately got in the way and that was that.  It wasn't until recently, when one of my book clubs chose this for our monthly read, that I remembered about the ARC, so I went and dug it up.  I will admit that the slow pace of the story in the beginning turned me off a bit initially, as did the characters, several of whom I found annoying at first with the way they behaved.  What drew me in though was the beautiful, immersive writing — almost lyrical in its cadence — and as soon as I started to understand what the author, Amy Jo Burns, was trying to do with the story, I became fully engaged in the lives of these characters, several of whom I grew to love by the end of the story.  

Though much of the narrative revolves around Briar Bird, the snake handling preacher who rules the mountaintop with his 'White Eye' legend, the heart and soul of the story are actually the "women who give this mountain its splendor" but who get nothing in return — women like Ruby (Briar's wife), Ivy (Ruby's best friend), and Wren (Briar and Ruby's teenage daughter).  I love the strong female characters in this story, all of whom have no choice but to forge their own path of survival in a land of men whose power often went unchecked and unchallenged.  This is also a story about the complexities of human relationships and how messy and convoluted they can become.

Structure-wise, the narrative is divided into 4 main sections, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters: Wren (the snake handler's daughter), Ivy (the fearless best friend), Flynn (the moonshiner).  Through these segments, we gradually gain insight into the lives of these characters: their triumphs and tragedies, their joys and their heartbreaks, their strengths and their fragilities.  Having said that, I thought it was interesting how central of a role Briar played as the instigator of nearly every negative incident, yet we get to hear from every other character except him — whether this was done deliberately or inadvertently, I don't know, but I feel it was a brilliant move nonetheless, as it gives voice to those who are expected to stay hidden: the wives and daughters living in the mountains of Appalachia, isolated from the outside world, not necessarily by their own choice.

This is the type of book that is difficult to read due to its subject matter, yet at the same time, it's also an absolutely necessary and worthy read.  With its themes of doing the best with the little you have, finding strength in the face of desperation and suffering, survival through sheer determination and grit, the overall tone of the story is melancholic and despondent, yet also hopeful, especially with Wren's coming of age story and her will to survive in spite of the fates her mother and Ivy suffered.

This is a debut that I highly recommend, one that perhaps takes a little patience to read, but definitely worth the effort.  I look forward to reading more from this author.

Received ARC from Riverhead Books via Edelweiss.