Ed Tarkington talks up his critically acclaimed debut novel

Ed Tarkington

“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Ed Tarkington

Nashville author Ed Tarkington will be in Chattanooga on Saturday, Dec. 10, for a discussion of his debut novel, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” now in paperback, at Star Line Books.

A distant cousin of renowned American novelist Booth Tarkington, Ed Tarkington explores the troubled bond between two half brothers in “Only Love,” a suspenseful story of family fealty, scandal and murder fueled by love, jealousy and madness.

NPR calls it “a lush mystery-within-a-coming-of-age-tale-within-a-Southern-Gothic interesting, readable and beautifully written,” while the Chicago Tribune declares it a “pitch-perfect first novel.”

The story is set in the late 1970s in small-town Virginia, where 8-year-old Richard “Rocky” Askew is temporarily abducted by his half brother Paul in an ill-advised act of vengeance against their father. Shortly after, Paul – known for being a wild child – disappears. Rocky’s childhood becomes defined by the absence of his beloved brother and by his involvement with his new neighbors, Brad and Patricia Culver and their 29-year-old daughter, Patricia.