Rarotonga: a Novel

by Christian Williams

The eccentric millionaire Robert “Bobby” Ayers has disappeared again, this time alone on his 60-foot luxury sailboat. Behind him he leaves the wreckage of a controversial life--three ex-wives, angry creditors and the shadow of a murder in his past. He travels the endless expanse of the Pacific cloaked in stealth, only to meet his future there in the form of a young woman more mysterious than he is. Left behind is his only daughter, Laura, who must fulfill the commands of his living trust in a journey that leads her ever deeper into a fractured world of family, revelation and personal destiny.
"A great read and a profound experience"--Bob Woodward

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2019

About the author

In 15 years at The Washington Post Christian Williams served as arts editor of the Style Section and reporter on the investigative unit. In 1987 he moved to Los Angeles to write and produce television programs from "Hill Street Blues" to "Six Feet Under." He is the author of "Rarotonga," a novel (2019); "Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way," a biography of Ted Turner (Times Books, 1981); "Alone Together: Sailing Solo to Hawaii and Beyond" (East Wind Press, 2016) and "Philosophy of Sailing" (2018). Williams has four children and lives in Pacific Palisades, CA, with his spouse, Tracy Olmstead Williams.

Reviews

[Christian Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m the author of “Rarotonga,” so the five stars are a convention, not a rating. Anyway, I’m not the one who knows the book best--that would be the characters themselves, who are as new to me as to any reader. Where does a story come from, and its people? Not from intention, exactly. Rather from fragments, dreams, misunderstandings, the grapple with the past and its link to the present. Authors want to know what happens in their story as much as any reader, and both of us to learn something, and to find out if the world for others is anything like the world of ourselves. The process is unruly. Characters drawn revolt, urgently revising themselves, growing like friendships or enmities until their early pages pale and disappear, retold by the characters themselves as if dictated, each of them declaring “That was not me, it never was! Do you finally recognize who I am and have always been?” (Well, there goes a hundred pages into the wastebasket, whole weeks of an author’s life). Novels that work come to life on their own, and when they do it’s kicking and full of beans. They show us the awe of dawn and sunset we so often miss, they get things right and they’re funny too, if they stand on their own legs. We are creatures of story and every good story is about us all. We tell and hear because it’s the only way we have to know who and what we are.
There’s a video on the page that says a little more about “Rarotonga.” We must all read on, there is a great sea of books to cross before we reach the unknown shore.

[Bradley Pollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific read! Mr. Williams’ ability to paint pictures with robust, descriptive language is unparalleled. Rarotonga has a gripping story which made it hard to put down. Admittedly, there were a couple typos and misspellings that would have benefitted from a good edit, but the story was so good that they were not distracting.

[Patrick Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarotonga rolls off the tongue with volcanic percussion and in this debut novel from Christian Williams, the reader is impelled through its pages by a force as irresistible as molten lava. The protagonist of this remarkable drama is Bobby Ayers the tycoon who, like many of his kind who have been summoned to face mortality, develops a well-disguised altruistic streak toward those he has beggared, borrowed or abandoned in life. There are timeless elements of Scrooge, the Count of Monte Christo and Thomas Crown that push the narrative like a prairie fire. The wonderful intricacy of plot, truly authentic characters who share or observe Ayers’ chaotic ride and, because Williams comes from a life that combines music (jazz) , literature (journalism and screen writing) and competitive sailing, this story goes to sea for one of the most tantalizing, terrifying and tumultuous journeys undertaken to the ends of the Earth. And when he gets there, he finds an apparition named Marika, who opens a conversation so honest, so profound and so mystical that one is never sure whether it is actually taking place. Rarotonga is an original series written in the cinematic mode of Williams’ career. One can hope that the muse strikes again.

[Michael Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I’ve read by Christian Williams. I can’t wait for his next.

[Kathy Flaherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first reading about Bobby Ayres’s life was not very interesting to me. I do have to say that Christian Williams has an extraordinary talent for writing about details. In chapter 9, he describes a storm; “directly above him was a wall of ocean, its face impossibly steep. Bits of seaweed hung as if nailed. It’s vertical streaks of foam were ladders to the clouds. At its peak, surf was forming. From it a cloak of white spray, blew horizontally, like the anvil head of a thunderstorm.” Then, there was the red boat and the description of Marika‘s condition when he found her or did he find her? I couldn’t stop reading the book from this point forward! Well done, Christian Williams.

[David Uebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

a Stunningly Good Read

I will not ruin this by setting any spoilers here. Let it suffice to say that this book has a depth that is seldom encountered in modern literature It helps greatly that the author is a single handed sailer himself and this add authenticity and know how to the story. At the start I was uncertain where this was going…I stayed that way right up to the end.
This book is literary gold.

[Sebastian Hammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprised!

I found Mr Williams and this book from his excellent YouTube videos on boating and single-handed cruising. I expected an entertaining little sea story, but found so much more. There is plenty of sea story in here, but also new surprises at every turn; psychological drama and family traumas and maybe ultimately redemption. I enjoyed every page.

[Roger Rohweder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is a TERRIBLE narrator, but the story, and the way it was written, forced us to listen to the whole thing. So the book gets four stars, the narration would get one. I sail, and so the details of sailing enriched it for me. The characters were well defined. and interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Months ago I finished this book. I still reminisce its details often.

I wish I could once more experience reading Rarotonga for the first time.

A one-of-kind read.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bold, compelling, and richly cinematic. I couldn't put this book down.

Read my review.