If you are having a tough time bidding summer farewell this is the perfect read to make it linger just a little longer. It’s impossible not to feel swept away while reading The Rocks by Peter Nichols. It’s a wonderful blend of complicated human emotions, entertaining antics, and a little bit of oceanic history. The story is beautifully told and follows two families backwards in time as multiple generations collide year over year in Mallorca. Nichols deftly describes the landscape of the Mediterranean – the ocean feels so real you close your eyes and see the waves crashing on the rocks of the Mallorcan coastline and you can almost taste the salt water. The characters are so completely complex that you find yourself undone by their actions and attitudes. I walked away unable to tell who were the villains and who were saints – yet I was so sad to bid each of them farewell. I’m a sucker for a book with a secret. In the final pages of this book I read furiously to figure out what really happened on “The Rocks” that set off a 50 year odyssey of love, betrayal, and regret. If you liked Beautiful Ruins you will love this one.
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