When "The Stones Speak" We Just Have To Listen

The Stones Speak

Nancy King

Atelier Books, Ltd, 2009

ISBN 978-1-934690-18-5

Ever hear the phrase, “If only the walls could talk”? Usually someone says that when they’re in a room where a prior conversation has taken place and the speaker desires to know what was said.

That’s sort of the idea behind Nancy King’s novel, “The Stones Speak.” King who holds a PhD and has written a number of non-fiction books about drama, language, and storytelling, has produced a spell-binding story about Naomi, a dancer who auditions for a troupe soon to tour Europe. She is selected as the only dancer and gets involved with Eric.

When a man, like Eric, invites an impressional woman, like Naomi, to travel alone with him to Europe, nothing good can come of it. And nothing does. The philanderer abandons the now-pregnant Naomi in Italy and she is forced to return home, humiliated.

So that’s where the story starts and, as it plays out, we slowly find out what happened to Naomi after her return to the U.S. We see her struggles in relationships where she lives in Santa Fe, a woman in her mid-60s, and we finally come to understand her as the story is resolved.

There is enough conflict in the story to keep you turning pages and enough resolution to satisfy anyone desirous of a “they lived happily ever after” ending ... although this one is not saccharin-filled.

If you’re looking for an evening or two, sitting on the patio enjoying our early spring weather, you couldn’t pick a better companion than “The Stones Speak.”

Posted by Bud Russo