This Rock, Robert Morgan
This Rock, Robert Morgan
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

This Rock

Author: Robert Morgan

Narrator: Sally Darling, Tom Stechschulte

Unabridged: 12 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/16/2021


Synopsis

From the author of Gap Creek—an international bestseller 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 Robert Morgan

Robert Morgan is the bestselling author of numerous works of fiction-including the Oprah Book Club selection Gap Creek-and nonfiction, and is also an established poet with fourteen collections to his credit. Born in Hendersonville, North Carolina, he teaches at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he is Kappa Alpha Professor of English.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on May 31, 2016

Not his best work. While Gap Creek and Greatest Pleasure were gripping and breath taking accounts of life in 1920s for young adults in North Carolina's hills, This Rock is scattered and anti-climactic. The book is written from the viewpoint of both the main character, Muir, and his mother, Ginny. Bot......more

Goodreads review by Joan on April 24, 2010

A terrific novel by the author of Gap Creek. This one relates the story of two dissimilar brothers, more or less of the Cain/Abel genre. Muir, the good brother, constantly seeks for his identity and a way to advance in the world. Moody, the bad brother, makes moonshine, is involved with bootleggers......more

Goodreads review by Robin on February 01, 2012

I wanted to give this 5 stars because I love the combination of the gritty storyline blended with poetic writing. There are so few books that I read slowly - I tend to skim a lot of most books. However, I found myself re-reading passages that were written so beautifully. I will definitely read the M......more

Goodreads review by Ray on June 30, 2014

This is the third historical novel I've read in the past three years from Robert Morgan, my longago undergrad creative writing professor. I began with Brave Enemies, a more recently written novel but set in Revolutionary times. I then pro/regressed to his Gap Creek, which spanned the turn of the 19t......more

Goodreads review by Annabelle on October 13, 2011

The relationship between the two brothers is what drew me to this book. I was hoping to gain some insight into my own two boys who are so different. Although it took me a while to get through the book; I am glad I kept with it. The insight I gained was about my own fears of failure and how empowerin......more