The Palace at the End of the Sea

A Novel (Theo Sterling, Book 1)

De: Simon Tolkien

Narrado por: Thom Rivera

A young man comes of age and crosses continents in search of an identity—and a cause—at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War in a thrilling, timely, and emotional historical saga.

New York City, 1929. Young Theo Sterling’s world begins to unravel as the Great Depression exerts its icy grip. He finds it hard to relate to his parents: His father, a Jewish self-made businessman, refuses to give up on the American dream, and his mother, a refugee from religious persecution in Mexico, holds fast to her Catholic faith. When disaster strikes the family, Theo must learn who he is. A charismatic school friend and a firebrand girl inspire him to believe he can fight Fascism and change the world, but each rebellion comes at a higher price, forcing Theo to question these ideologies too.

From New York’s Lower East Side to an English boarding school to an Andalusian village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Theo’s harrowing journey from boy to man is set against a backdrop of societies torn apart from within, teetering on the edge of a terrible war to which Theo is compulsively drawn like a moth to a flame.

©2025 by Simon Tolkien. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Thom Rivera performs the story of Theo Sterling, a New York boy whose Mexican Jewish family suffers terrible hardship during the Great Depression. Rivera's strongly masculine voice is surprisingly suitable for young Theo, who is wise beyond his years due to his challenging experiences on the Lower East Side, and later at an English boarding school.… Rivera employs a range of mostly subtle accents. Theo is drawn into the politics and horrors of the Spanish Civil War and learns to question loyalty, the ownership of wealth, and his own identity.” —AudioFile Magazine

“This coming-of-age tale is the first of a duology, establishing Theo’s foundation up to the start of the Spanish Civil War…Readers will be eager to see whether he’s ready for the fight that is to come in the next installment.” —Booklist

“A book rich with lyricism as well as pain…”—Historical Novels Review

“[A] fascinating, emotionally and intellectually engaging read from cover to cover…With a genuine flair for authenticity of detail and the kind of narrative storytelling style that holds the reader’s full attention for start to finish.”—Midwest Book Review

Skip this one

This is a tough depressing read. Given from a child’s point of view. And you only get to know the child’s view never the parents. To be fair I made it to chapter nine before I pulled the plug. Perhaps it gets better but it’s just so depressing and yes I get that’s probably the point.

Potential not realized, maybe with the sequel?

I understand that there is a sequel, but the ending is abrupt and wraps up nothing in the story. It would have been an abrupt end to a chapter, let alone a book. The problem is, I don't think I even want a second book about this kid - I’m not sure he’s worth any more of my time, but I would like to know if he ever gets his act together, and what happens historically from this Spanish perspective through the Spanish Civil War and World War II. There’s a lot to work with here- but if you are interested - wait until both books are out.
As for the performance - not bad, but why does every native Spanish speaker speak English with such a heavy lisp? It's odd.

Long meandering story with abrupt ending

I liked the historical / political aspects of the story. However, it was unnecessarily long and the abrupt ending made no sense. The narration was even, but lacked story-telling variation and there were occasional mispronunciations

Disappointing arcs with disappointing end.

There were characters throughout the entire story that got developed and it’s like the author was just tired of their storyline and stopped writing about them half way through. The ending was so abrupt and just pathetic if I’m being honest. Feeling like I wasted a credit. Performance was so-so but the mispronunciations and lisps were annoying.