This Rock - Hardcover

Morgan, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565123034 ISBN 13: 9781565123038

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2001

Synopsis

From the author of Gap Creek-an international best-seller and winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award-comes the gripping story of two brothers struggling against each other and the confines of their mountain world in 1920s Appalachia.

The Powell brothers-Muir and Moody-are as different as Cain and Abel. Muir is an innocent, a shy young man with big dreams. Moody, the older and wilder brother-embittered by the death of his father, by years of fighting his mother, and by his jealousy of Muir's place in the family-takes to moonshine and gambling and turns his anger on his brother. Muir escapes by wandering, making his way around the country in attempts to find something-an occupation, a calling-to match his ambition.

Through it all, their mother, Ginny, tries to steer her boys right, all the while remembering her own losses: her husband (whose touch still haunts her), her youth, and the fiery sense of God that once ordered her world.

When Muir, in a drunken vision, decides that his purpose in life is to clear a space on a hill and build a stone church with his own hands, the consequences of his plan are far-reaching and irrevocable: a community threatens to tear itself apart, men die, and his family is forever changed. All that's left in the aftermath are the ghosts and the memories of a new man.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

From the author of Gap Creek - an international bestseller and winner of the Southern Book Award for fiction - comes the gripping story of two brothers struggling against each other and the confines of their 1920s Appalachian Mountain world.

The Powell brothers, Muir and Moody, are as different as Cain and Abel. Muir is an innocent, a shy young man with big dreams and not the slightest idea of what to do about them. Moody, the older and wilder brother - embittered by the death of his father, by years of fighting his mother, and by his jealousy of Muir's privileged place in the family - takes to moonshine and gambling and turns his anger on his brother. Muir escapes, hoping to find something - an occupation, a calling - to match his ambition.

Through it all their mother, Ginny tries to steer them right, all the while remembering her own losses: her husband, her youth, and the fiery sense of God that 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.

All that's left in the aftermath are the memories of a new, wiser man. This Rock is Robert Morgan's most ambitious and accomplished novel yet.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Robert Morgan:

"At their finest, his stripped - down and almost primitive sentences burn with the raw, lonesome pathos of Hank William's best song." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Reminiscent of James Dickey - bearing the same naturalistic marks of clear, clean prose and often disturbing imageryT Morgan casts a stark story peopled with real, believable, and honest characters." (Baltimore Sun)

"Morgan turns the stories of prosaic lives into page - turners." (The News and Observer)

"Morgan writes "with an authority usually associated with the great novelists of the last century." (The Boston Book Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1565123034
• ISBN 13: 9781565123038
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336