The Rocks

Nichols's (Voyage to the North Star) tale begins in 2005, at Lulu's 80th birthday party. With her long white hair, the lithe, beautiful proprietress of Villa Los Roques still appears robust, although a recent stroke has affected her brain. By chance, she encounters Gerald, her ex-husband, whom for years she has managed to avoid despite both being residents of the small island of Mallorca. They exchange words; they scuffle; they plunge off a cliff and drown. What a stunning start to this novel, which proceeds, section by section, to go back in time, examining their doomed love story and the equally dismal relationship between her son, Luc, and Gerald's daughter, Aegina. The problem is that Lulu is mostly unlikable. She has very little use for her son, she carries grudges, she is uncommunicative. Although she comes across to her guests as Meryl Streep's character in Mamma Mia!, there's something disturbed about Lulu.