Only love can break your heart : a novel / Ed Tarkington.
Welcome to Spencerville, Virginia, 1977. Teenagers still roamed wild and free. Elementary school kids could walk to school on their own. Daughters were safe from the clutches of filthy hippies and horny English rock stars in tight leather britches. Sons worshipped God, loved their mothers, and feared their fathers. Eight-year-old Rocky worships his older brother, Paul. Sixteen and full of rebel cool, Paul spends his days cruising in his Chevy Nova blasting Neil Young, cigarette dangling from his lips, arm slung around his beautiful, troubled girlfriend. Paul is happy to have his younger brother as his sidekick--until the day Paul, in an act of vengeance against their father, picks up Rocky from school and nearly abandons him in the woods. Afterward, Paul disappears. Seven years later, Rocky is a teenager himself. He hasn't forgotten being abandonded by his boyhood hero, but he's getting over it, with the help of the wealthy neighbors' daughter, ten years his senior, who has taken him as her lover. Unbeknownst to both of them, their affair will set in motion a course of events that rains catastrophe on both their families. After a mysterious double murder brings terror and suspicion to their small town, Rocky and his family must reckon with the past and find out how much forgiveness their hearts can hold.
Record details
- ISBN: 161620382X
- ISBN: 9781616203825
- ISBN: 9781616205263
- Physical Description: 307 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First edition
- Publisher: Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2016.
Content descriptions
- Target Audience Note:
- 900L Lexile
- Study Program Information Note:
- Accelerated Reader AR UG 5.8 15 178912.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Small cities > Fiction.
Stepbrothers > Fiction.
Teenage boys > Fiction. - Genre:
- Bildungsromans.
Domestic fiction.
Available copies
- 22 of 22 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Onslow County Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 22 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sneads Ferry Branch Library | FIC TARKINGTON (Text) | 36015001288873 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Albert Carlton - Cashiers Community Library | F TARKINGTON (Text) | 39493107919666 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Belhaven Public Library | FIC (Text) | 38344101561593 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| C.B. Hildebrand Public Library | F TAR (Text) | 33557003951159 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Cleveland County Main Library | F TARKINGTON (Text) | 22281500127977 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| East Asheville Library | F TAR (Text) | 0020510902370 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Etowah Branch | TAR (Text) | 33258008206935 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Gunn Memorial Public Library | F TAR (Text) | 34621704383861 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Hampton B. Allen Library | YA FIC TARKINGTON (Text) | 18198000636136 | Young Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Harold D. Cooley Library | F Tar (Text) | 20100000013376 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
Accessibility Features
Summary:
Welcome to Spencerville, Virginia, 1977. Teenagers still roamed wild and free. Elementary school kids could walk to school on their own. Daughters were safe from the clutches of filthy hippies and horny English rock stars in tight leather britches. Sons worshipped God, loved their mothers, and feared their fathers. Eight-year-old Rocky worships his older brother, Paul. Sixteen and full of rebel cool, Paul spends his days cruising in his Chevy Nova blasting Neil Young, cigarette dangling from his lips, arm slung around his beautiful, troubled girlfriend. Paul is happy to have his younger brother as his sidekick--until the day Paul, in an act of vengeance against their father, picks up Rocky from school and nearly abandons him in the woods. Afterward, Paul disappears. Seven years later, Rocky is a teenager himself. He hasn't forgotten being abandonded by his boyhood hero, but he's getting over it, with the help of the wealthy neighbors' daughter, ten years his senior, who has taken him as her lover. Unbeknownst to both of them, their affair will set in motion a course of events that rains catastrophe on both their families. After a mysterious double murder brings terror and suspicion to their small town, Rocky and his family must reckon with the past and find out how much forgiveness their hearts can hold.
