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    Only Love Can Break Your Heart
    Only Love Can Break Your Heart
    Only Love Can Break Your Heart
    Audiobook10 hours

    Only Love Can Break Your Heart

    Written by Ed Tarkington

    Narrated by Peter Berkrot

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ed Tarkington's debut novel draws you into a small-town American Gothic story of coming-of-age, brotherhood, and family fealty, first love, scandal, and murder. In Virginia in the 1930s, 6-year-old Rocky lives in awe of Paul, his juvenile delinquent older brother, until Paul disappears with his delicate girlfriend Leigh. Nine years later we find a teenage Rocky discovering first love (and first sex) with the neighbors' daughter, trying to come into his own, discovering his own talents, when Leigh returns, more unstable than ever and full of secrets. Eventually, when their elderly father falls ill, Paul returns to find a town -- and a family -- that cannot trust him. Just as the brothers begin to reclaim what was lost, a brutal murder threatens everything.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateJan 5, 2016
    ISBN9781622318926
    Only Love Can Break Your Heart

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    Reviews for Only Love Can Break Your Heart

    4/5

    78 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Nice evenly paced coming of age storyline to follow. Richard, aka Rocky, has to learn life's lessons pretty much on his own. His brother is significantly older, his father is an older man at his birth, and mom is a helicopter mom. When the "older woman" gets ahold of him, a lot of things come to light relatively quickly. Tends to be a tad slown8n places but not l I ng enough to make me DNF. I'm glad I saw it through.
    • 4/5
      Richard "Rocky" has worshipped his older brother much to his mother's frustration. She sees his half brother as a bad influence that Paul cements when he leaves 8 year old Rocky alone in a park at night after giving him beer and cigarettes. When Paul and his girlfriend Leigh disappear the next day Rocky is on his own to navigate growing up. This story is of Rocky's life with his dysfunctional family and the neighbors next door that figure prominently in their lives. Leigh returns, Rocky get's a job at the neighbors (a disaster), Rocky tells a secret that wrecks lives, Paul returns, a murder happens and through it all you care for these characters and want to know if any of them can survive what happens. A wonderful debut narrated expertly by Peter Berkrot.
    • 5/5
      I listened to this as a book on CD and was very engaged throughout the story. The coming of age tale is told from a man's recollection of his boyhood years between 8 and 16 years old or so. Characters are developed through their stylized voices and descriptions of their demeanor and appearances. I enjoyed how the author continued to keep the audience's attention by drawing on previously referenced scenes and the natural flow of describing events as though they were transpiring for the first time in that moment.
    • 2/5
      I received the audio book version of this and first off I noticed that I did not enjoy the narrator - I thought I would get used to as the story progressed but I never really did.Other than that I didn't love to story it was really hard for me to get through. Given all of the positive reviews I kept waiting for the story to capture me, but that never happened.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      Utilizing an array of classic rock music as a backdrop, Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington is a captivating coming of age novel set in the '70s & '80s.

      Richard "Rocky" Askew adores and idolizes his much older half-brother Paul. Viewed as the small town's resident bad boy, Paul has earned his reputation with his devil may care attitude and his penchant for smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. Despite the age gap between the brothers, they are close and many of their conversations and exploits take place while listening to Neil Young and other artists of the time period. The defining moment of Rocky's young life occurs when Paul "kidnaps" him then briefly abandons him in the woods before taking him home then leaving town with his girlfriend, Leigh Bowman. Leigh eventually returns to town while Paul's whereabouts remain a mystery for several years.

      Rocky's childhood is privileged and rather idyllic despite Paul's disappearance. His father, aka "the Old Man", is much older than Rocky's mother and while a bit gruff, he is a good father. Paul's rebellion is a source of contention between his parents and in an effort to ensure Rocky does not follow in his rebellious footsteps, Rocky's ultra religious mom keeps him on a fairly tight leash. As a teenager, he manages to escape from her watchful eye after he convinces their neighbor's older daughter, Patricia Culver, to hire him as a stable boy/groundskeeper. Patricia also introduces him to pleasures of a more earthly type when they begin an illicit affair.

      Unbeknownst to Rocky, Paul's ex-girlfriend Leigh also has an unexpected tie to the Culver family; she is engaged to their much older son, Charles. Despite her upcoming marriage, Leigh's life has not gone smoothly since her return to town. Rumors swirl around the small town about her fragile mental state and her time "resting" in a local mental hospital. Their reunion is uneasy and fraught with tension and Rocky is somewhat taken aback when she decides to reveal what happened after she and Paul left together years earlier. Stunned by her revelations, Rocky is unsure if her account is true and he is left with even more doubts after the events that occur during her wedding.

      After the Old Man suffers a debilitating stroke, the mystery of Paul's disappearance is cleared up once and for all. This also marks the beginning of a downward spiral for the Askew family after they discover the Old Man's business venture with the Culvers led to the loss of their fortune after the Black Monday stock market crash. Although still neighbors, they ignore one another until a shocking double murder thrusts both families (and Leigh) back into the spotlight.

      An absolutely stunning debut novel , Only Love Can Break Your Heart is an engrossing and nostalgic story set in rural Virginia. Brilliantly developed, multifaceted and intriguing characters bring this tale vibrantly to life while the riveting storyline completely ensnares readers from beginning to end. Ed Tarkington neatly wraps up all of the loose ends with a heartwarming and rather poignant conclusion. A phenomenal novel that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      What’s it about . . .This is mostly a coming-of-age-story set in Spencerville, Virginia, in the 1970s. The story goes on to span a lifetime including lots of family drama, small town entanglements, and a mystery.Our narrator is eight-year-old Rocky Askew. He adores his older half-brother, Paul, a rebellious teen with a cool car and a hot girlfriend. One day Paul disappears with his girlfriend and doesn’t return for seven years. During that time Rocky becomes a teenager and begins his journey toward adulthood, but never forgets about Paul.What did I think . . ..This is a nostalgic read for those of us who grew up in the 70s. There are many cultural references and Neil Young songs are mentioned often. But even if one can’t relate to the times, the book is well-written, very readable, and with a host of interesting, although often troubled, characters. There was a lot going on, sometimes too much, but still a worthwhile read.Audio production . . ..I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Peter Berkrot. His performance was very enjoyable and a pleasure to listen to with excellent pacing good character vocals.
    • 4/5
      This book grabbed me, pretty much from the beginning. Rocky is a young boy who idolizes his cool older brother, even when it seems like things aren’t going so well for him. Even when he abandons Rocky in the woods. Even when he disappears, his high school girlfriend along for the ride.Rocky is left to grow up in his small Virginia town without him, with his aging father and young mother, and some neighbors that he is a little too curious about. Especially the daughter, who is definitely too old for the teenager.And then there’s the murder. And that’s when my spidey sense began to tingle.The further I read, the more I realized the inspiration for Tarkington’s debut novel. The bones of the mystery belong to a well known murder case in Bedford County, Virginia. I won’t go into more specifics, because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone that doesn’t want to be spoiled. But the deeper I got into it, the more I recognized it, thanks to being a bit of a true crime TV junkie. And even though I was then able to figure out the secret, I wasn’t upset at all. Frankly, I was tickled that I recognized it, and I’m rather surprised I haven’t seen it mentioned in any other reviews of the book.But regardless of the spark of inspiration, this was a solid novel. Music fans will pick up on a lot of references, but everyone else can just enjoy a story that at its core is about family and the unbreakable bonds it can create.
    • 3/5
      Teenagers are both fragile and bristly. Touched the wrong way, the bars come up, a better attempt, the gentle emerges.Paul is a teenager and takes his eight year old brother into the woods and almost abandons him.Almost doesn't really undue a story, as we know from folk and fairy tales where the near rescue or near disaster still carries the sting of horror. Still, a brother worshiped is not immediately undone even by this act. Years, a disappearance, and a few crimes later, family wounds will surface. This was an engaging book on cd in the car, with parents and teens, and then, disturbing and uncomfortable. The format made it difficult for me as a reader, I wished I had read it alone, pausing when I needed to, etc as dealing with the issues and story line when I wanted to. Over all, a well written book which inhabited VA in the 1970's and take the reader there for a disturbing ride.
    • 5/5
      I listened to this book on CD compliments of the publisher and LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I enjoyed this book a lot. I love Southern novels,coming of age books, and small town life books. This one hit all three. It made driving around quite enjoyable for several weeks!
    • 5/5
      This is that rare first novel that has no false steps. To be fair It is not the first novel Ed Tarkington wrote; it's the first one that got published. According to an article Tarkington wrote for lithub.com he actually wrote two more that were quite different from this one and they didn't find a buyer. Thank goodness he kept at it and I hope he is hard at work at another one. The book starts out in 1977 in a small town in Virginia. Richard, called Rocky by his brother Paul, is seven years old and Paul issixteen. Paul is a bad boy or at least the good people of Spencerville think he is. This is how he and his friends are described on page 9: Especially among the good Episcopalians and Presbyterians of the Boone's Ferry neighborhood, Paul and Rayner Newcomb and their crew were symbols of menace, with their muscle cars blasting loud rock out the open windows, with their cigarettes and their unkempt hair and their insouciant contempt ...They threw beer parties when their parents were out of town. They parked their cars in empty lots and dead-end streets, drawing the less reckless but still hopelessly curious girls and boys to them like sailors to the Sirens' song. They picked fights and pulled pranks. They trespassed anywhere and often, mounting the roofs of tall buildingsand dangling perilously from trestle bridges. Invading construction sites and boarded-up houses, they plowed the fertile fields of former vestal virgins, leaving behind thier spent condoms and beer cans and cigarett butts like dogs marking trees.I can just picture them; heck, I knew them although a little earlier than 1977. Rocky adores Paul and also has a crush on Paul's girlfriend, Leigh. Paul is actually Rocky's half-brother and when his mother dies in Akron Ohio when Paul is in first year university Paul goes a little crazy. He picks Rocky up at his school, drives to where Leigh is in university and tells Leigh he wants to take off out west with her and Rocky. Leigh convinces him to take Rocky home, promising to go with him if he does. That's the last Rocky sees of Paul for seven years. Leigh, however, returned home to Spencerville about seven months later. Richard (there's no-one left to call him Rocky) doesn't see her for years until one day she turns up riding a horse with the next-door neighbour, Patricia Culver. Turns out Leigh is marrying Patricia's brother. Richard starts working for the neighbours so he can see more of Leigh but he ends up seeing more of Patricia, lots more of Patricia. Richard is seduced by Patricia who is much older than he is and for weeks all he can think of is having sex with her. On the night before her wedding Leigh takes Richard on a long drive and tells him everything about the months she was away with Paul including the fact she had an abortion after she came home. She also tells him that she knows what he is doing with Patricia. Richard tells Patricia about Leigh's confession and Patricia makes sure the news spreads. The wedding goes on but is never finalized; Leigh has a breakdown at the altar and Richard's father has a stroke. After that Richard's life as he knew it crumbles and it seems like the Culvers are at the root of every bad thing. Paul returns home when he learns of his father's health and financial problems. He tells Rocky the Culvers will get theirs. When the Culvers are found murdered in their house with symbols of satanic abuse on the walls in their blood it seems that Paul was right. Does this mean Paul was involved in their murder? The police think so. Read the book to find out for sure.If you are wondering about the title it is a quote from Neil Young's song. Young is a subliminal presence in this book. I wonder if Neil has read this.
    • 3/5
      I received the audio version of this from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I thought it sounded interesting and I love audiobooks, so I figured why not? It's a well-written coming of age tale, set in Indiana in the late 1970s. I thought Rocky was a compelling narrator, though I found the accent a bit grating after a while. I also think this book suffers from unfortunate blurb syndrome - the murders that are supposed to change everything didn't happen until disc 7 (of 9). So I spent a large percentage of my time wondering where the murders were. It was distracting. But, I still think it was a decent book. The ending was a bit heavy-handed, but not terrible.
    • 3/5
      I received the audio book of this Early Reviewer selection. I really did not care for the voice of the narrator. Living in the south I hear a lot of southern accents and this accent was not believable to me. I have found that a bad narrator can completely ruin a book. Several times I have not finished a book being so put off by the narrator. That was not the case with this novel. The story, though a bit predictable, is compelling and I did care about the characters. The main character, Rocky (Richard), is the younger brother in a rural Virginia family in the seventies. Rocky idolizes his older brother, Paul. The novel focuses on the relationships in this gothic family and the surrounding neighbors and townspeople. There is a fair amount of drama and in the end, things are tied up neatly. All in all an average read.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of family relationships in the late 70’s where the dynamics of the community are influenced by loss, love, money, social status and the pains of growing up. The primary characters are two brothers, Rocky, the younger shy son and Paul, his older brother, a seemingly ‘bad boy’. They are very very different and live in a small community in rural Virginia where lives are intertwined and where everyone knows every other persons business. Interactions with girlfriends, neighbors, and workers evolve and are told by events in the community, school activities, family tragedies and celebrations. These somewhat dysfunctional characters are brought together in a story that could be true today and the pains and joys of growing up are still very relevant. The development of the characters was done extremely well with both of the primary characters becoming more complex and understandable as their experiences with the other central characters deepened and intertwined.I listened to the book and initially had a hard time getting into the story line as I did not enjoy the narrators voice. However, by the end of the book I was so throughly captured by the writing that I began to see how the narrator was aptly chosen. Thank you to Librarything and Algonquin Books for the opportunity to read and review this book and it did not impact my 4.5 star review.
    • 4/5
      Only Love Can Break your Heart is a coming-of-age-story, a star-crossed romance, a story of a dysfunctional blended family and a mystery. But it is ultimately the story of a relationship between two half-brothers. Richard, aka Rocky, is seven when the story begins. Paul, his brother-by-another-mother, is sixteen. The story starts out dramatically with the somewhat accidental shooting of Paul by a neighbor. Paul recovers, though, and he and the story ramble on, at times rather aimlessly. Paul leaves home and years pass with no word of his whereabouts. Rocky himself becomes a teenager and experiences life and what passes for love with teenagers. Still the absent Paul never leaves him. Ed Tarkington writes like he has lived what he is writing. His story is haphazard at times but then, so is life. He leaves us with some loose ends but isn’t that how we leave life when the powers that be finally punch our ticket? I was often fully sucked into the story because the events he described are those that many of us have faced. In real life one sometimes has to deal with a loved one who suffers from dementia. This process is never neat and doesn’t fit easily into your average novel but Tarkington’s handling of it not only handled it well, keeping me engaged in the story, but he also enabled me to revisit my own teenage years when I was living through it myself. I’m torn on how to rate this book. I have just complimented it for being lifelike yet I feel compelled to mark it down for not having the tightly staged plot that one comes to expect from fiction. I think I’m going to end up giving it four stars because I think it could be better, but I’m damned if I know how.***FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending. *1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
    • 5/5
      It is such a rare treat when you get to read a book that is well written. Not pretentious, not full of all the tricks the author learned while getting their MA, all the while forgetting to actually have a story, which characters the reader would care about. No this book is written for people who enjoy a well told story.Only Love Can Break Your Heart, is a phenomenal book. A coming of a book without the usual cliches. A story of hero worship for a young boy and the cruel lesson that Heroes are human. That families are never ideal, and that when dealing with fellow human beings, what you want isn't always what you get, and that sometimes only love can break your heart.This is a fantastic book by an amazing writer.
    • 5/5
      I received a free copy in exchange for review. When I first started listening, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. The narrator was not one I was familiar with, but he grew on me. The storytelling and characters really sucked me in and I had a hard time taking a break. I would definitely read/listen to other books by this author.
    • 5/5
      After learning of Pat Conroy's death I was saddened to think we would never have the pleasure of reading anymore of his multi-layered southern novels and then I finished listening to the audio copy of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" by Ed Tarkington and I was given new hope! I received my copy from Library Things early reviewers for my honest review and I will try not to gush to much.This book is one that you will not want to put down or as in my case, stop listening to! Ed Tarkington takes you back to the freer time of kids growing up in the 70's. If you are like myself, in your 50's, so many of his references will bring back so many memories you just have to smile but he also takes you on a suspenseful ride with several twist and turns where you watch unhappy families who never bonded and then one's that are not perfect but where love is strong. Ed expertly intertwines all of the plots lines throughout the story over many years to bring you to an ending that hopefully leaves you feeling overwhelmed with memories of growing up, choices you've made, family ties, sibling relationships and family loyalty. I can see a long career for Mr. Tarkington if he keeps writing deep, insightful books like this one and I think he will be a wonderful alternative for all the Pat Conroy fans out there.
    • 4/5
      A debut coming-of-age story set in Virginia in the 1970s, with a murder mystery on the side. Rocky is an eight-year-old boy who idolizes his sixteen-year-old brother Paul in the first part of the book, and the story continues into Rocky's teen years. I can't say much more without giving away the plot, but the audiobook effectively conveys a mixture of nostalgia and melancholy with Gothic undertones. It might pair well with M. O. Walsh's My Sunshine Away, a coming-of-age story set in Louisiana in the 1980s.
    • 5/5
      I won the audio version of Only Love Can Break Your Heart from LibraryThing's early reviewer giveaway and what a win it was! I thoroughly enjoyed this well written coming of age story that takes place in Spencerville Virginia. When the story begins the protagonist, Rocky, is an eight year old and it is the late '70s. Rocky idolizes his older half brother Paul and is devastated when his brother leaves home. Rocky narrates his story over the next decade providing insight into is own teenage years. The characters are all well developed and the language rich and descriptive. This book seemed to have it all including an unexpected murder. I am looking forward to more of Mr. Tarkington's work
    • 4/5
      This is a well-written novel that gets into the nitty gritty of love and family in all its messed up glory and imperfections. 4.5 stars from me. Clearly this is a fantastic debut, and I'll be watching for how the author follows it up.
    • 4/5
      I will skip a description of the book as that can already be found. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this story. This is the type of well written, multi-faceted literary fiction I am finding interesting these days. The author weave the storylines together well and does not seem to lose track though the story takes place over many years. Well done and well read by the narrator in the audio edition. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      As each new plot element was introduced and believe me there are many of them, a little something for everyone, anyway I kept thinking that this should not work. All these elements should not be in one story, so how is it possible that I ended up liking this so much? Well for one, it is very well written and second, I loved the narrator who starts this story when he is eight years old and continues on until adulthood. Rocky is a wonderful observer of his family and people and events in his town. He looks up to his older brother who is considered a rebel, a bad boy and is sixteen. They share a love of music that forges a bond between them despite their age difference. Their family and the family in the big house across the road will be the focus of this novel. All the different elements made this so interesting and fast paced even while I was shaking my head. Definitely readable and a good look at a small town and their prejudgment, what fear will do to people. So hats off to this amazing author.ARC from Netgalley.
    • 5/5
      A special thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Ed Tarkington delivers an emotional, haunting, and breathtaking debut, ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART an enthralling mix of coming-of-age, a family saga, mystery, thriller, crime, suspense, and Southern Gothic, mixed with humor; in one unforgettable page-turner of complex “human relationships”."Love can make people do terrible things."The title of the novel is derived from Neil Young’s 1970 album “After the Gold Rush” title: Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Jammed-packed with everything from Classic Rock, Stones, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Mick Jagger, Neal Young, 70s, 80s, Doobie Brothers, Carolina Shag, Camels, Marlboro Lights, Reagan----beer drinking, southern town life, family dysfunction, mental illness, brothers, small town, domestic, affairs, sex, murder, financial loss, arts, culture, literary, religion, cult, hippies, femme fatale, sons and fathers, psychic, community, and loyalty. Set in upper southern town of Virginia inside the city limits of Spencerville, near the Blue Ridge Mountains, at the turn of the 1970's. The town was built on tobacco money and the people were willing to plead ignorance as long as the world would let them. (kind of like today).The narrator, Richard "Rocky" Askew is eight-years-old, and idolizes his older half-brother, Paul, age sixteen. Paul is “cooler than The Fonz” (minus the leather jacket and motorcycle), bad boy --loves cigarettes and beer (you could buy cigarettes at 16). He also has a love for vinyl and music. He invites his little brother in his life (his sidekick)--despite the age difference. They live in The Old Man’s house —his mother is young enough to be Old Man’s daughter. Rocky’s mom is thirty-three, and the Old Man is sixty. She married him for his money, no doubt, since her parents were killed in an accident raised by her grandmother. She needed a father figure. Across the grassy knoll in the distance, sat the old white columned estate house known as Twin Oaks. Twin Oaks had been vacant for many years, and Paul says it is haunted. From its ancestors--tobacco, liquor, poker, gambling, and whores. Then the stock market crash. Suicide. No one has lived there since. After all, his older brother had broken in and there was some trouble.Paul was also seeing Leigh Bowman; she traded her tennis, dancing, and competitive swimming for lounging in Paul’s bedroom, smoking cigarettes, and listening to records. Her father forbade Leigh to see Paul. The Culver’s purchased the mansion Twin Oaks. Jane and Brad. A tragic event occurs, things get crazy, and Paul takes off with his girlfriend Leigh Bowman. Rocky is devastated to lose his best friend. Due to his brother’s wild ways, his mother turns religious -- strict with Rocky. As Rocky becomes a teenager, he turns to the rich neighbor (ten years older), the Culver's daughter, Patricia--teaching him the ways of the world (The Graduate). The mysterious older woman. (Hilarious) He was naïve and innocent. She hires him to watch the horses, take care of the stables, mowing (plus more). In between equestrian activities, there is sex. He knew Paul would be impressed with his affair - the sexy older woman. Compared to Patricia, his own childhood seemed mundane. She had lived all over the world. He misses his brother. There is also a back story of the two families: The Askews and the Culvers. Rocky is “sport” to Brad Culver. An investment goes bad. Black Monday. A stroke. Leigh returns and engaged to Charles, Patricia's older brother. Rocky never forgets his older brother, and then one day when they are experiencing great financial difficulties, he returns. (The Prodigal Son). How can Rocky afford to remain at the academy, when they have no money? A double murder. A hideous brutal crime. The little town’s innocence ended, replaced with panic and paranoia, dread, and suspicion, recrimination and lurid fascination. Devil worshipers? An enemy from Brad’s past to settle a score? Everyone is under suspicion.Then there is Leigh and Paul. Leigh has mental illness. A new love and life for Rocky? What would a Southern novel be without tragedy, music, love and sadness? Written with passion, reminiscent of earlier times--not so much a plot-driven novel; however, a bold, rich character-driven novel, with vivid settings. Tarkington’s prose is colloquial and evocative-- honest, raw, and down- to- earth, capturing the South. As a reader you are fully invested in it's characters. The focused attention is on their distress, and the possible consequences. It is Rocky and Paul’s journey, their life, their desires, fears---love, acceptance. Heartwarming, soul-searching. “No good can come from regret.”Ongoing strong themes of family and community; loyalty and betrayal, love and redemption. In this extraordinary coming-of-age story we experience the hormones of youth, the trials of growing up, and a “larger-than-life drama of intimacy and betrayal.”“When people build something together—be it abstract or physical, spiritual or material—the circle closes around them. They find that elusive peace that, as the other Paul once wrote, passes all understanding. “LIFE the good, the messiness, the bad, and ugly; Abandonment and forgiveness, love and betrayal--sins of the wayward youth. Where would we be without our mistakes? The risk of love. "All life is performance, and performance is life." Like a play. The ties that bind for better or worse; love always comes with the risk of a broken heart. The question for us all: Can we live without it? Is it worth the risk? Powerful stuff. What really makes the novel: I thoroughly enjoyed the inspiration behind the novel: As the author quotes in a Q&A and essay. “It’s not memoir, but it’s fiction with a lot of memory in it.” The epigraph — “How accidentally a fate is made . . . or how accidental it all may seem when it is inescapable” — comes from “The Human Stain.” Philip Roth Why that passage?“I’ve always been fascinated in art and life with how random circumstances can direct our paths. These characters make some pretty reckless choices when they’re young and have to watch the consequences of those choices roll out from there. But when we come to the end of their story, we discover that this was the only way it was ever going to be — all of this had to happen. I thought that line elegantly captured that conundrum.” (see below author essay link)Tarkington does an exceptional job portraying life in the South during this time period. Fans of Southern authors, John Hart, Pat Conroy, and Wiley Cash will the appreciate intimate relationships between father and sons, a brother's bond, and life in a changing time—At its core, it is a love story. You will be reminded of the works of: William Faulkner, Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor. Deeply flawed characters. In addition to the digital reading copy, I had already pre-ordered the audiobook. Peter Berkrot, is my favorite male narrator, providing an extraordinary performance! A perfect voice for Rocky--adding icing to the cake. What a powerful collaboration. A perfect title. Highly recommend- cannot wait to see what is next! An author to follow. I have a strong feeling this is only the beginning --to a long line of bestsellers. Read Author's Essay bit.ly/AuthorEssayET "She had long, straight hair then, parted down the middle, like a young Judy Collins." Love the Judy Collins reference: Judy Collins, now 76, is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. A product of the 50's, am proud to be named after this extraordinary woman.