Sipping Mercury

In this gripping tale of love, control, and survival, Sipping Mercury continues the story of Ruth Shurlington, a young girl who is lured into a rogue marriage with Leonidas Brantley, a charming yet dangerously controlling older man. Running away on an impromptu honeymoon, Ruth and Leonidas venture into the North Georgia mountains in search of gold. It is there that Ruth first encounters the darkness that lurks within her husband and begins to feel the encroaching shadows of his violently controlling nature.

On their return to Atlanta, Leonidas settles Ruth in the city and begins to systematically isolate her from her family, surrounding her instead with his adoring sisters and doting mother. When Ruth becomes pregnant with her first child, she boldly insists on reconnecting with her own sisters. Despite the Shurlington family's initial reluctance to welcome Leonidas, he expertly manipulates them and tightens his control over Ruth. Only her sister Lola, who sees through Leonidas's facade, understands the danger Ruth is in.

An unexpected knock at the door brings Hoyt Brantley, Leonidas' brother, into Ruth's tenuously held together world. When Hoyt crosses a devastating line, further complicating Ruth's already tense new marriage, Ruth is shook by how deep violence permeates the Brantley family.

As Ruth faces increasing peril, both from her husband's growing possessiveness and from the rising civil unrest in Atlanta, she is not entirely alone. She clings to the matter-of-fact support of her sister Lola and befriends Elmira Keen, a nosy, but well-meaning neighbor who becomes a key ally.

Death mercilessly invades their family-taking one after another into its icy clutches. An ultimatum is given and Ruth, now the mother of four small children, must reckon with the choices she has made. She must decide whether she has the courage to take her children and leave her destructive marriage or succumb to the man who has gained control of every aspect of her life.