The heaven of Mercury

"Finus Bates has loved chatty, elegant Birdie Wells ever since he saw her cartwheel naked through the woods near the backwater town of Mercury, Mississippi, in 1917. Having "caught hold of some loose line in her that would attach itself to stray wildness" and never let go, he's loved her for some eighty years: through their marriages to other people, through the mysterious early death of Birdie's womanizing husband, Earl, and through all the poisonous accusations against Birdie by Earl's no-good relatives. All during Mercury's evolution from a sleepy backwater to a small city, Finus (reporter, radio host, and obit writer) has aimed to have the last word on its inhabitants, from obsequious undertaker Parnell Grimes to Euple Scarbrough, local encyclopedia of useless knowledge, and Vish, a real oldtime medicine woman. But ever loyal to Birdie, Finus won't rush to unravel the mystery of her husband's untimely passing - not until Birdie herself has entered Mercury's heaven."--BOOK JACKET.

First sentence: FIVE HUNDRED FEET above the highest building in downtown Mercury, thrust up amidst the light and swirling, lifting fog, the tower beacon for WCUV-AM glowed on and off with the regularity of a low pulse.

Year

2002

Language

English

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Editions

2

Pages

352

ISBN

9780393324655

Data source: Wikidata