Rocks That Float

by Kathy B. Steele

When geologist Jimmy Steverson buys a tiny mill house on Dillehay Pond, his real-estate agent is disgusted, his father says he's reliving summer camp, and his coworkers think it's a weekend fishing cabin. Jimmy likes walking out his back door to his own dock and bass boat, but out his front door lies Randleman Road. The nine houses left on the block are the remnants of a nineteenth-century Carolina mill village, and the people living in them are remnants, too. An arrest leaves one house vacant, and its unlikely new owner is Karen, a college professor. As Karen rebuilds her house and her life, she anchors Jimmy to the block.
But the world he's moved into has its own rules, its own language. Across the pond, Totch runs a barbecue place, which is legally a gift shop because he can't get a restaurant license; buying a postcard translated to ordering a beer. Next door to Jimmy lives Mayme Boulineux, who has no health-department permit to sell her popular breakfast breads, known locally and phonetically as bolenos, so they're sold in shoeboxes for cash that never enters a register. The county sheriff drops by Jimmy's to explain his mission of protecting people - including marijuana-smoking geologists - from the law.
Just as Jimmy becomes comfortable in the web of neighbor helping neighbor, he's asked to breach his own personal code. He waits to see what rules Karen lives by.
Randleman Road is a forgotten block of unforgettable people, their lives linked like beads on a string. Jimmy's story is the string.

Genres: Fiction

282 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2005

Reviews

[Linda Bogaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read in that in each chapter you get to know more about the main character, Jimmy Steverson, but also about each of his neighbors on this secluded street (Randleman Rd.) in a small Carolina mill town. Each has his/her own quirky story and somehow they are all connected and help each other in a variety of ways. They all seem to be sad, dysfunctional stories....even Joelle the young girl. Interesting but not joyful. The book ends about as abruptly as Jimmy's decision to buy the house on the lake at the beginning of the book.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was drawn to the book because the story takes place near Augusta, GA...where I lived for a LONG time. it was a good story til the end...it just didn't seem to stop rather than conclude.....

[Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how each chapter is dedicated to one character. Based in lovely South Carolina, how can a local not like it?

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the most depressing books I ever read. I read lots of dark books, but this one just felt so pointless and sad.