 When she fears that someone is trying to harm him, she acquires a gun, precipitating a traumatic event that changes the lives of her and her family.The year after "Mercury" appeared, Livesey published The "Hidden Machinery", a collection of essays about writing; many of the essays had begun as lectures she had given as a teacher at a university or at a writers’ conference.In Fall 2019, Livesey's publisher, HarperCollins, announced it would publish Livesey's ninth novel, "The Boy in the Field", in August 2020.