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“And the seasons, as now, reliably made everything new again. He liked to remember Goethe’s line: 'A man can stand anything but a succession of ordinary days.'”
-The Rocks
The Sum of It:
Oof - this is a hard one to summarize, but we will do our best! The most important thing to know is that the book is written in reverse time order in that we begin at the end of the tumultuous relationship between main characters Lulu and Gerald and then trace that relationship and the lives that surround it backwards from there. These two used to be married, but when the book begins in 2005, the two are 100% not together and have a super non-friendly confrontation near some seaside cliffs and then (kinda spoilers, but not really because this literally happens in the first chapter of the book) both tumble over the cliff and die. As their two adult children (each from a different marriage, so not related at all #noncousinlove), Aegina and Luc, meet up to sort out the cliff situation, it becomes apparent that those two ALSO have some kind of a romance-riddled past. Each section of the book travels back in in chronology all the way to 1948 a few years at a time, with each section revealing a new piece of the puzzle of the totally mysterious horrible incident that drove Lulu and Gerald apart, and the reason why Aegina and Luc can't seem to look each other in the eye...
Author Peter Nichols weaves an amazing, lushly visual albeit a bit cringe-y at times (see Treatment below for more on that), tale that is full of literal and figuratively rich characters. Lulu's Mallorcan villa/hotel, The Rocks, hosts a constant stream of visitors, from the rich British couple who helped fund her resort venture to a decidedly skeezy regular to a smorgasbord of movie stars and producers, and Nichols will leave you hooked to the last page to see the genesis of each and every one. The settings range from the glittering water and olive groves of Mallorca to Paris apartments to north African bazaars, and each is vividly painted. The settings, images, relationships, and complex emotions that build the story's tapestry are, together, a knock out.
Author Peter Nichols weaves an amazing, lushly visual albeit a bit cringe-y at times (see Treatment below for more on that), tale that is full of literal and figuratively rich characters. Lulu's Mallorcan villa/hotel, The Rocks, hosts a constant stream of visitors, from the rich British couple who helped fund her resort venture to a decidedly skeezy regular to a smorgasbord of movie stars and producers, and Nichols will leave you hooked to the last page to see the genesis of each and every one. The settings range from the glittering water and olive groves of Mallorca to Paris apartments to north African bazaars, and each is vividly painted. The settings, images, relationships, and complex emotions that build the story's tapestry are, together, a knock out.
The YOA Treatment:
Opinions on this book range, but we have to say that we really liked it. It is set in Mallorca, a place we've become increasingly fascinated by (especially since "The Night Manager" starring bae Hiddleston; if you haven't watched it, DO IT). The scenes are painted so vividly, my passport was itching. We were also intrigued by the structure of the book, which begins with an extremely dramatic scene that was obviously precipitated by a significant event in the past, so the premise of the whole book is traveling backwards through the lives of the characters until the mysterious situation that sparked lifetimes of drama for both of the initial main characters is finally revealed. Each character in the book brings something else to the story, either demonstrating the consequences of some long ago action or illustrating heartache or unachieved potential. That sounds kind of depressing, but we promise this book is not! None of the characters are perfect, but then, neither are people, and we feel like this book paints a great picture of how simple misunderstandings or actions can have a ripple effect across lives.
In this way, this book strikes us as absolutely a mystery. One of the most compelling features of the narrative is that you are constantly trying to figure out what it is that has caused these two families to be pitted against each other, Capulet vs. Montague style, for like 60 years. Amid this narrative device, the mysteries of actual crimes as well as the emotional damage people can do to each other are totally intertwined.
In poking around online about this book before reading it, we came across some VERY mixed reviews. Some people described the book as "boring" (which we find COMPLETELY baffling), some were frustrated with the sex scenes (there is one in particular that we agreed we could have done without, though we get why it was there for one character in particular), and some said they didn't like some of the characters. Many reviewers compare it to Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, which was honestly a bit of a deterrent for us because while we very much enjoyed the portions of that book set in the past, we loathed the modern-day storyline and wished that the author had left it out altogether, and speed-read through it to get back to the interesting parts. The Rocks, for us, was nothing like that, and was a #pageturner from start to finish and by the time we reached the last page, we wanted to just turn the book over and start again. Pick it up!
- E. & A.
- E. & A.
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