Inspired by People from Home: A Guest Post by Amy Jo Burns
Hardcover
$23.20
$29.00
Mercury (Barnes & Noble Book Club Edition)
Mercury (Barnes & Noble Book Club Edition)
By Amy Jo Burns
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$23.20
$29.00
From the author who blessed us with Shiner comes a story packed with the twists of a propulsive mystery and the meaningful character connections of a good literary tale. It’s the story of dysfunctional family, finding oneself and the gray area between heroes and villains. Great for fans of The People We Keep.
From the author who blessed us with Shiner comes a story packed with the twists of a propulsive mystery and the meaningful character connections of a good literary tale. It’s the story of dysfunctional family, finding oneself and the gray area between heroes and villains. Great for fans of The People We Keep.
I come from a family of roofers — my dad, my brother, my uncles, and my grandfather—and they are absolutely incredible storytellers. No one can tell a joke like they can. They know how to lean into mystery, how to set up a surprise, how to land a punch line, and how to capture an entire room. I’d say I first learned how to tell a good story from them.
The women in my life who raised me — roofers’ wives and mothers who are homemakers and entrepreneurs, often both at once — are the ones who taught me about what’s worth saving. “Saving” isn’t just about collecting receipts, leftovers, or extra cash. It’s about protecting the bond you have with someone you love and fighting for what matters — even if that means fighting with each other.
This was where Mercury was born, in the meeting place of a story well told and why that story matters. I wanted to write a novel inspired by people from home — not just roofers themselves, like the Josephs in the novel, but all the blue-collar families I know and love that have real dreams and heartbreaks of their own.
I love writing the story behind the story, and I filled Mercury with everything I look for in a bighearted, juicy family drama: that “what happened here” vibe, multiple voices with their own secrets to tell, and characters who are committed to learning how to show up for one another — especially when they have to learn it the hard way.
Mercury follows the members of the Joseph family as they find something they shouldn’t in an old attic, and the discovery makes them question everything they thought was true about one another. Each of them has played a part in making their family what it is, and they each have to decide if they want to play a role in its salvation.
I set Mercury in the 1990s not only because that’s when I grew up but because of the collective psyche in western Pennsylvania at the time. Pittsburgh had lost a lot of its industry with the downfall of steel, and like the Josephs, many people were wondering if the best was behind them and whether they’d ever have a different, better story to tell — which, it turns out, they did. I hope when readers turn the final page of this book, they’ll also be reminded that their own best stories are yet to come.
