The marriage of a couple on the cusp of middle age comes
undone by a beautiful Thoroughbred horse.
Multi-layered domestic
dramas are Margot Livesey's specialty. In her novel, Mercury, she again probes contradictions in human
relationships, this time orbiting the often perilous abyss of middle age and
casting her gaze on matters of perception in both literal and figurative terms.
Donald Stevenson is a staid, 39-year-old
surgical ophthalmologist-turned-optometrist who lives and works in a Boston
suburb. In humble, intimate prose that percolates with impending tragedy,
Donald recalls his life and tells how a chasm developed between him and Viv,
his wife of nine years. A restless and impulsive former mutual fund financier,
Viv gave up her unfulfilling professional life to pursue her earlier life's
passion for horses, co-managing a stable called Windy Hill. There she cares for
Mercury, a five-year-old, dapple-gray Thoroughbred, and forges such a deep bond
that she pins her affections, hopes and dreams of winning a horse-riding
championship upon the horse. After Windy Hill sustains a mysterious break-in, Viv--whose
myopic, first-person account is sandwiched between Donald's telling of
events--conveys how she secretly took security matters into her own hands to
keep her adored Mercury from danger. The consequences of this decision become
far reaching, life changing and soul shattering.
Livesey (The Flight of Gemma Hardy) is a reflective, insightful writer. She offers a well-drawn supporting cast and skillfully unravels details that heighten the suspense and surprise of a sobering story. She delves into divisive aspects of deceit, desire, regret and ideals, and how the choices people make can affect and torment innocent lives in extraordinary ways.
Livesey (The Flight of Gemma Hardy) is a reflective, insightful writer. She offers a well-drawn supporting cast and skillfully unravels details that heighten the suspense and surprise of a sobering story. She delves into divisive aspects of deceit, desire, regret and ideals, and how the choices people make can affect and torment innocent lives in extraordinary ways.
Harper,
$26.99 Hardcover, 9780062437501, 336 pages
Publication Date: September 27, 2016
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NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission
of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness:
Reader's Edition (September 30, 2016), link HERE