"[An] eloquent, sorrowful novel....Readers of both Pat Conroy, on one hand, and Carson McCullers, on the other, will relish Newton's flawed characters and piquant portrayal of small town life."
—Booklist (starred review)

"Under The Mercy Trees will take your breath away."

—Robin Antalek, author of The Summer We Fell Apart

Heather Newton's Under the Mercy Trees is a beautifully rendered, heartbreaking first novel that heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in Southern fiction. The poignant and unforgettable story of a man forced to face his troubled past when he returns to his small hometown in the mountains of North Carolina following the disappearance of his brother, Under the Mercy Trees adds the name Heather Newton to a sterling list of acclaimed authors in the Southern literary tradition that already includes Reynolds Price, Kaye Gibbons, Jill McCorkle, Clyde Edgerton, and Tom Franklin.