Martha Engber, author, Winter Light – 5 stars
Ever Rest by Roz Morris is the kind of book you sink into and emerge from in a state of wonder. This beautifully written story steeped in the majesty of music and mountains is balanced on the riveting concept of a rock star, whose presumed death after an accident while climbing Mt. Everest, casts a years-long pall over the many lives he touched when young and famous.
Twenty years after Ash’s disappearance, his former girlfriend, Elza, a once young and beautiful dancer, is now an artist whose boyfriend has little concept of the celebrity that continues to follow her as fans worldwide keep her former lover’s memory alive. Ash’s bandmate, Hugo, the musical genius behind the duo known as Ashbirds, is the man who talked Ash into climbing Everest. Now he’s a climbing guide who eschews fame and wealth.
Following these people, along with and another five characters on the periphery of Ash’s inner circle, creates a wonderful tension akin to that evoked by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, where the once grand lady of the manor continues to rule with the power of a ghost ever-present in the lives of those who walk beneath her portrait. While not as dark as that classic novel, this story captures that sense of purgatory where each discovery of a corpse on Everest reignites passions about the idol’s death while disrupting the lives of those closest to him.
The question quickly becomes, will the now forever enshrined by tragedy and mystery rock star ever really rest and give the living peace? Hence the brilliant title that creates foreboding as the pressure builds with every new body found on the famous mountain; a threat of avalanche exacerbated by an eccentric investor who wants to draw Hugo back into the rock scene and see the Ashbirds live on.
The story seamlessly moves amongst the viewpoints of the various characters while producing prose that brings the narrative alive with rich, authentic details and sensory descriptions that convince you you’re in the room with these people, whose lives, and demons, are so real.
Roz Morris, author 