by Peter Nichols
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BookExcerpt
Published: May 26, 2015
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Mediterranean
Hardback: 432 pages
Rating: 5
A romantic page-turner propelled by the sixty-year secret that has shaped two families, four lovers, and one seaside resort community.
Set against dramatic Mediterranean Sea views and lush olive groves, The Rocks opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later? Centered around a popular seaside resort club and its community, The Rocks is a double love story that begins with a mystery, then moves backward in time, era by era, to unravel what really happened decades earlier.
Peter Nichols writes with a pervading, soulful wisdom and self-knowing humor, and captures perfectly this world of glamorous, complicated, misbehaving types with all their sophisticated flaws and genuine longing. The result is a bittersweet, intelligent, and romantic novel about how powerful the perceived truth can be—as a bond, and as a barrier—even if it’s not really the whole story; and how one misunderstanding can echo irreparably through decades.
My two-bits:
Bittersweet read, indeed. While not a favorite read, this was written very well in portraying love gone tainted due to circumstances.
Loved how the location was a character in itself. It provided the right mood and stable backdrop for the various scenes of the past and present.
About the author:
* listened to the audio version
* part of my Armchair Summer Travel (details) - check it out to enter Armchair Summer Travel Book Box Giveaway
