by Amy Jo Burns
First published 2024
Marley West rolls into Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990 at seventeen, searching for somewhere to belong. She spots three men on a rooftop, their shapes blocking the sun. The Joseph brothers pull her into their orbit immediately. She becomes wife to one brother, the lost love of another, and surrogate mother to all of them. Their actual mother is dying and their roofing company is falling apart thanks to their father's massive pride. Marley takes charge of these difficult men and tries to hold everything together. Years pass. Someone finds something disturbing hidden in the church attic. Old hurts break open again. The family faces destruction. Marley becomes their guiding light as the Joseph brothers must choose between preserving what they have always known or tearing it down to create something better.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Mercury, Pennsylvania
Period: 1990
319 pages · Kindle Edition · Celadon Books