- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345442369
- ISBN-13: 978-0345442369
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16.3 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 687,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Like the sea he describes so well, Patrick Gale's clear, unforced prose sucks one in effortlessly … he is excellent at the telling detail and description.' Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail
'There are no false notes in this book.' Marie Claire
'”Rough Music” … is an astute, sensitive and at times tragically uncomfortable meditation on sex, lies and family…. a fabulously unnerving book… a hugely compelling writer.' Independent on Sunday
'It would be churlish to divulge more of the plot, suffice to say that it is as ingenious in design as it is generous in spirit.' Sunday Express
‘Patrick Gale's novels grip tightly, like swaddling clothes, stunning the reader into a state of lolling, contented absorption. How does he do it?' TLS
'”Rough Music”, like its predecessors, belongs to a broad canon of works by English rural moralists. Think Austen, Hardy or Murdoch … His plots – seemingly effortless, but closely structured – resemble Iris Murdoch's … Gripping, elegant and wise.' Independent
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.Product Description
Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, Rough Music is a novel of one family at two defining points in time. Seamlessly alternating between the present day and a summer thirty years past, its twin stories unfold at a cottage along the eastern coast of England.
Will Pagett receives an unexpected gift on his fortieth birthday, two weeks at a perfect beach house in Cornwall. Seeking some distance from the married man with whom he's having an affair, he invites his aging mother and father to share his holiday, knowing the sun and sea will be a welcome change for. But the cottage and the stretch of sand before it seem somehow familiar and memories of a summer long ago begin to surface.
Thirty-two years earlier. A young married couple and their eight year-old son begin two idyllic weeks at a beach house in Cornwall. But the sudden arrival of unknown American relatives has devastating consequences, turning what was to be a moment of reconciliation into an act of betrayal that will cast a lengthy shadow.
As Patrick Gale masterfully unspools these parallel stories, we see their subtle and surprising reflections in each other and discover how the forgotten dramas of childhood are reenacted throughout our lives.
Deftly navigating the terrain between humor and tragedy, Patrick Gale has written an unforgettable novel about the lies that adults tell and the small acts of treason that children can commit. Rough Music gracefully illuminates the merciful tricks of memory and the courage with which we continue to assert our belief in love and happiness.
Will Pagett receives an unexpected gift on his fortieth birthday, two weeks at a perfect beach house in Cornwall. Seeking some distance from the married man with whom he's having an affair, he invites his aging mother and father to share his holiday, knowing the sun and sea will be a welcome change for. But the cottage and the stretch of sand before it seem somehow familiar and memories of a summer long ago begin to surface.
Thirty-two years earlier. A young married couple and their eight year-old son begin two idyllic weeks at a beach house in Cornwall. But the sudden arrival of unknown American relatives has devastating consequences, turning what was to be a moment of reconciliation into an act of betrayal that will cast a lengthy shadow.
As Patrick Gale masterfully unspools these parallel stories, we see their subtle and surprising reflections in each other and discover how the forgotten dramas of childhood are reenacted throughout our lives.
Deftly navigating the terrain between humor and tragedy, Patrick Gale has written an unforgettable novel about the lies that adults tell and the small acts of treason that children can commit. Rough Music gracefully illuminates the merciful tricks of memory and the courage with which we continue to assert our belief in love and happiness.
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First Sentence
She walked across the sand carrying a shoe in either hand, drawn forward as much by the great blue moon up ahead as by the sound of the breaking waves. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
She walked across the sand carrying a shoe in either hand, drawn forward as much by the great blue moon up ahead as by the sound of the breaking waves. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a beautifully crafted book in which two generational strands alternate, gradually interweave and finally converge. The characters are entirely credible and perceptively drawn, especially the mother and the main character as a young boy who evokes universal feelings of childhood. A book which is both touching and wise. Utterly absorbing.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
From the first few pages I was utterly captivated as the author drew me back into a long forgotten childhood. Gale's descriptive style of the Cornish sea and surroundings had me entranced and I was instantly intrigued by the obvious mysteries surrounding the characters. I especially enjoyed the way he used two storylines, one set in the past and one in the present, in each alternate chapter. This book was poignant and thought provoking - the description of Frances's descent into Alzheimers particularly moving. Absorbing, compelling and wonderful, I recommend this book to everyone.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book, found it really hard to put down and have already checked out the author's other books on Amazon for future reading! It is written in an easy to read style but the characters are complex, interesting and sympathetic and left me wanting to know more about them.
It is mainly set around a holiday cottage in Cornwall over two family visits separated by 30 years, and the events of the past slowly unravel and merge with the characters' present day lives, as twists and details are revealed.
If you like strong characters and insights into human relationships this is a great book ... not a lot of action but very thoughtful and it left me with questions about things that were not quite resolved or clear.
It is mainly set around a holiday cottage in Cornwall over two family visits separated by 30 years, and the events of the past slowly unravel and merge with the characters' present day lives, as twists and details are revealed.
If you like strong characters and insights into human relationships this is a great book ... not a lot of action but very thoughtful and it left me with questions about things that were not quite resolved or clear.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thought provoking and touching novel
Patrick Gale is a prolific author but I was only introduced to his writing two years ago by my sister when she recommended Notes from An Exhibition(2007) and lent me a copy of The... Read more
Published 10 months ago by LindyLouMac
Excellent read: Rough Music by Patrick Gale
I enjoyed this book immensely. The story is very well written and cleverly crafted. Author employed a difficult technique and succeeded.
Published 10 months ago by Beibhinn Carroll
Good beach read, particularly in Cornwall!
Just finished reading this, my 3rd or 4th Patrick Gale novel, and whilst the story kept me interested, wanting to know how the 1960s holiday panned out and whether my suspicions... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Shelf Elf
big disappointment
This book was disappointing on a number of levels but mostly because the characters were so two dimensional and stereotypical. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by A reviewer
The best so far...
I have read four novels by Patrick Gale so far and, in my opinion, this is the best of the four (the others being 'Aerodynamics of Pork', 'Facts of Life' and 'Facing the Tank'). Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2009 by Iain C. Davidson
Tender and sensual
Rough Music is a tender and sensual novel depicting a marriage and family. It can only add to the growing reputation of Patrick Gale as one of the finest writers of modern literary... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Smooth Passage for Rough Music
This is the second book I've read by Patrick Gale, the first being 'Notes From An Exhibition'. Both are well written in an apparently simple style, that nevertheless conveys an... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by David Baker
Best read in ages
I took this book on holiday, and couldn't put it down. He keeps you guessing until the end, def. the best I have read since the Kite runner.
Published on 12 Aug 2009 by Topkat
One beach house one family
This story is split into two but it involves all the same characters staying at two beach houses Beachcomber and Blue House, each chapter tells us, the reader what beach house we... Read more
Published on 4 July 2009 by Joanne D'Arcy
Wonderful, wonderful Patrick Gale
I am on my third Patrick Gale novel in as many weeks. He writes soooooooo well about family tensions and dynamics. This is incredibly reminiscent of childhood....loving it.
Published on 2 July 2009 by Suzipong
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