The Rocks

A Novel

By: Peter Nichols

Narrated by: Steve West

A romantic pause-resister propelled by the 60-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 60 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.

©2015 Peter Nichols (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Irresistibly sunny...Set in the brightly lit Mediterranean amid old olive trees and sexual intrigue, music and wine and beautiful women...Propulsive.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“The perfect book for pretending it's already beach season.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)

A hit

Love, history, rich characters, excellent narrative--A clear winner
Sometimes I find stories that don't always refer to the year they are switching to, that I can lose my place in the story and consequently need to rewind.

Dramatic

Reading was a little dramatic and overdone - otherwise fantastic- next time I would read the book

Excellently plotted novel

A wonderful literary summer read! My only complaint is the reader's female voices all sounded the same and were a tad annoying. However don't let that keep you from an otherwise wonderful listen.

The Rocks

Story was scattered all over the place . the brilliant performance of Steve West kept me listening. Steve West is very talented narrator and can make a mediocre story interesting.

Loved everything about this book!

The story is compelling and the narrator is fabulous! Especially loved the setting, it was like being on vacation.

Oh, this made me want to go to Mallorca!

Would you listen to The Rocks again? Why?

Out of the hundreds of books in my library, this is the only one I listened to twice back to back.

What about Steve West’s performance did you like?

Steve West's performance was amazing. I enjoyed his interpretation of the different accents.

Any additional comments?

There were certain aspects of the story I didn't care for but the writing was so wonderfully descriptive I felt transported to exotic locales and because of this it was still a 5 star listen for me.

Audible mixup

This is a great book and I’ve enjoyed listening twice since I first located it.

However, Audibles ability to ensure the chapters follow the books chapters is abysmal and hence retracing / following the story very difficult without the book itself.
Audible please try harder!

Geography Is Important

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rocks to be better than the print version?

Not sure, probably not because I generally believe that the author meant the reader to bring his own voice(s), meter, emphasis to the book.

What did you like best about this story?

Location, location, location. I wanted very much to read a book that was infused with Majorca and this one is. I was slightly put off by the face that the village names and road names are fictitious, but there is enough context that you can get a pretty clear sense of where the story takes place in Majorca.

I also very much liked the multi-generational aspect of the story. It was very well crafted.

One of the main characters is very complicated - attractive and friendly, but also strict, willful, and, frankly, mean. The development of this character is very well done.

Have you listened to any of Steve West’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Who was the most memorable character of The Rocks and why?

Lulu for the reasons described above. Gerald is also memorable.

Any additional comments?

Disclaimer: I am embarrassed to say that I have not read the Odyssey. Clearly, this story is tied up in the Odyssey in ways I will never know, but people who are better read than I will enjoy. There is no doubt in my mind that a reader will enjoy this book more if they know the Odyssey.

Good to the end!

Great listen, although the chapters go back and forth in time. Steve West could read the newspaper and I would give it 5 stars! Very glad my friends steered me to this book and if you enjoy a good intertwined story I recommend it to you.

I didn't believe the reviewers

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not. I ignored previous reviewers who said that it was hard to tell what timeframe the story was in. I would find myself spending 5 minutes going "what-what just happened?" because it's now 1946 instead of 2005. So I would lose track of some of the happenings.

If you’ve listened to books by Peter Nichols before, how does this one compare?

Haven't read any others.

What does Steve West bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think he did a good job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, because I think it would have been easier to follow the time-frames.

Any additional comments?

Now that I'm finished, I think it was a good book. But I really don't know how it could have been presented so that it was easier to know what year the story was covering.