This Rock

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Jessica Ronky Haddad Style Weekly Transports readers directly to the wild and forgotten mountains of North Carolina and to the secret, hopeful places in a young man¹s heart. From the author of Gap Creek‹the international bestseller and winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award for fiction‹comes the gripping story of two brothers struggling against each other and the confines of their 1920s Appalachian Mountain world. Muir and Moody Powell are as different as Jacob and Esau. Muir is an innocent, shy young man with big dreams and not the slightest idea of what to do about them. Moody, the older, wilder brother, takes to moonshine and gambling and turns his anger on his brother. Through it all, their mother, Ginny, tries to steer them right, while dealing with her own losses: her husband, her youth, and the fiery sense of God that had once ordered her world. When Muir discovers his purpose in life, the consequences are far-reaching and irrevocable: a community threatens to tear itself apart and his family is forever changed. This Rock is the most ambitious and accomplished novel yet from an author whose sentences ³at their finest . . . burn with the raw, lonesome pathos of Hank Williams¹s best songs² (The New York Times Book Review). ³Homespun pleasure.² ‹Nelson Taylor, Providence Journal ³Hell-bent and excellent . . . I can¹t shake the first scene. . . . resonant . . . moving.² ‹Katherine Whittemore, The New York Times Book Review ³Morgan¹s prose is sharp and saturated with details . . . [imbued] . . . with a sort of lyrical sheen . . . both moving and spiritual.² ‹Michael Paulson, Bookpage Robert Morgan, the author of the award-winning novel Gap Creek, is a native of the North Carolina mountains, where he was raised on land settled by his Welsh ancestors.From Publishers WeeklyThis coming-of-age tale is rather like a Cain and Abel saga, set in the Carolinas in the early '20s. Ginny, a widow, raises her children on prayer and homily. Moody, her older son, is a lazy, cynical bad boy who grows into a whoring, alcoholic bootlegger. His brother, Muir, in contrast, is self-flagellating and guilt-ridden. He bumps his way down life's river, but his faith always seems to lead him to salvation. Morgan, author of last year's Gap Creek (an Oprah selection), fleshes out this family's story in a predictable but satisfying manner. While his tale develops with mounting drama, the production of this version does not do it justice. Alexander has the difficult job of reading the passive mother's dialogue; she often sounds like she's on tranquilizers. And Clotworthy tries hard for feeling, but gets bogged down in reading long, overly detailed descriptions with little connection to the narrative. Thus, the audio version disappoints, depriving listeners of the best of Morgan's sensitive work. Based on the Algonquin Books hardcover (Forecasts, Aug. 27). (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalMorgan here continues the story of the Powell family, begun in The Truest Pleasure (LJ 8/95) and continuing with the best-selling Gap Creek (LJ 9/1/99), an Oprah selection. Some 20 years after the events in Gap Creek, Muir and his ornery older brother, Moody, struggle with each other; with their widowed mother, Ginny; and with the rural Southern community where they live. Muir, not yet 20, is on a quest to find his life's work: does he have a true calling as a preacher? Ultimately, through the catalysts of two seemingly unrelated deaths, he conceives of a project that in turn reveals his life's true purpose. Though Morgan still pursues his favorite theme, the redeeming power of work, his new book is both more ambitious and more uneven than Gap Creek. Not a lightweight Bildungsroman, this novel instead illuminates the painful movement from boy to man. As such, it might not satisfy earlier Morgan readers, but libraries will definitely want this. Rebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.