"Consuming... . . . Explores themes of honesty and understanding by showing the impact that obsessions—grief, rapacity—can have on a marriage." -The New Yorker

Donald believes he knows all there is to know about seeing. An optometrist in suburban Boston, he is sure that he and his wife, Viv, who runs the local stables, are both devoted to their two children and to each other. Then Mercury—a gorgeous young thoroughbred arrives at Windy Hill and everything changes.

Everyone is struck by Mercury's beauty and prowess, particularly Viv. As she rides him, Viv begins to dream of competing again, embracing the ambitions that she had harbored, and relinquished, as a young woman. Her daydreams soon morph into consuming desire, and her infatuation with the thoroughbred escalates to obsession.

Donald is slow to notice how profoundly Viv has changed. By the time he does, it is too late to stop the catastrophic collision of Viv's ambitions and his own myopia.

At once a tense psychological drama and a taut emotional thriller, Mercury is a riveting tour de force that showcases this "searingly intelligent writer at the height of her powers" (Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author).

"You'll be glued to the page." -People, Pick of the Week

"Like the recent blockbusters Gone Girl and Fates and Furies, Mercury gives us a marriage from alternating perspectives. Unlike those books, there is no looming gimmick or twist. The parties involved agree on what has happened. The question is whether or not their love can survive it." -New York Times