Mercury

A Novel

By: Margot Livesey

Narrated by: Derek Perkins, Nicol Zanzarella

A taut emotional thriller about love, obsession and the secrets that pull a family apart.

Donald believes he knows all there is to know about seeing. An optician in suburban Boston, he rests assured that he and his wife, Viv, who works at the local stables, will live out quiet lives with their two children. Then Mercury—a gorgeous young racehorse—enters their lives and everything changes.

Viv’s friend Hilary has inherited Mercury from her brother after his mysterious death—he was riding Mercury late one afternoon and the horse returned to the stables alone. When Hilary first brings Mercury to board at the stables everyone there is struck by his beauty and prowess, particularly Viv. As she rides him, Viv dreams of competing with Mercury, rebuilding the ambitions of grandeur that she held for herself before moving to the suburbs. But her daydreams soon morph into consuming desire, and her infatuation with the thoroughbred quickly escalates to obsession.

By the time Donald understands the change that has come over Viv, it is too late to stop the impending fate that both their actions have wrought for them and their loved ones. A beautifully crafted, riveting novel about the ways in which relationships can be disrupted and, ultimately, destroyed by obsession, secrets and ever-escalating lies.

Excellent! Great narration.

Fast paced story about ordinary lives. I couldn't stop listening. If you enjoy Franzen novels you will love this book.

Great book, strange ending

I don’t know what happened in the ending line, which is why it’s a 4 not a 5. Love Margot Livesey, though. I’ve read/listened to everything of hers. If you’re a fan don’t miss it, and maybe you will understand ending.

A Horse Is a Horse. Or is it?

A woman wrecks the lives of her children, her husband, her friends, her family, and herself all because she falls in love with a horse????
If this hadn’t been a book group pick, I would have returned it way before I got to the end.
Narrator for Donald— very good.
Narrator for Viv— overly dramatic.
The only thing this book has going for it is vocabulary. Excellent use of vocabulary.