Small mercies

the long version

"An ingeniously layered narrative, told over the course of one week, Eddie Joyce's debut novel depicts an Italian-Irish American family on Staten Island and their complicated emotional history. Ten years after the loss of Bobby-- the Amendola family's youngest son-- everyone is still struggling to recover from the firefighter's unexpected death. Bobby's mother Gail; his widow Tina; his older brothers Peter, the corporate lawyer, and Franky, the misfit; and his father Michael have all dealt with their grief in different ways. But as the family gathers together for Bobby Jr.'s birthday party, they must each find a way to accept a new man in Tina's life while reconciling their feelings for their lost loved one"--