
Pearl
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Narrated by:
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Laura Brydon
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By:
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Siân Hughes
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023
Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood.
As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her. Discovering a medieval poem called Pearl and trusting in its promise of consolation, Marianne sets out to make a visual illustration of it, a task that she returns to over and over but somehow never manages to complete.
Tormented by an unmarked gravestone in an abandoned chapel and the tidal pull of the river, her childhood home begins to crumble as the past leads her down a path of self-destruction. But can art heal Marianne? And will her own future as a mother help her find peace?
©2023 Siân Hughes (P)2023 W. F. Howes LtdListeners also enjoyed...




















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That quote sums up the story in the book Pearl. This gem exudes, profound sadness on so many levels. The disappearance of Marianne’s mother when she was eight years old affected her throughout her life.
Her search for love throughout her life was based on the void left by her mother. I listened to this on audible and was mesmerized by the narrator and her interpretation of the words written by.Sian Hughes.
How her father and little brother (who was an infant when her mother disappeared) coped while deeply felt paled to that of Marianne. It was she who remembered her mother and the love and happiness with which she surrounded her family.
I found myself in tears during the last chapter as the adult Marianne reminisced about her mother and the probable cause of her disappearance. I’ll be thinking of this book and its messages of love for a long time.
I was mesmerized
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At the same time, this reads very plainly and journal like. I felt as if I was reading the character’s diary. There isn’t so much dialogue. It’s sprinkled here and there, but this is more of a retrospective. In this sense, the book is very interesting and as I started with, engaging. If you’re looking for a page turner or edge of your seat kind of read, you’ll be disappointed though. It’s a short read. I finished in one sitting. I do like this author though. She’s a new one for me, and this is a pretty good debut!
PEARL…
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Puzzling
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Excellent and creative writing
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Delightful and Deep
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Bring the tissues
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Superb
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Beautiful writing; sometimes went on too long
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a beautiful untangling of grief, love and motherhood
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Marianne was homeschooled. She spent all her youth with her mother, Margaret. They raised chickens and had a makeshift garden. After her mother disappeared, Marianne struggled emotionally. She cannot reckon with her feelings of abandonment and takes out her frustrations on her own body.
A memory Marianne treasures is when her mother recited the medieval poem “Pearl” which is a story of grief…a man lost his Pearl, sees her in his dream and jumps into water to get to her, only to awaken. Margaret is a name that means Pearl. Marianne’s fuzzy memory tries to bring back her Pearl.
Marianne becomes a mother and continues to wonder why her mother left her. The story begins with adult Marianne reflecting on her mother after she herself becomes one. It is these musings, these memories of struggles that allows Marianne to see the beauty of her life, the kindness and patience of her father. As an adult, Marianne sees her mother as a person. As she processes through her fuzzy memory, and with the help of a plot twist, she allows for an alternative view of her mother.
Hughes shines in showing how experiencing a loss at a formative age is emotionally damaging.
I listened to the audio narrated beautifully by Laura Brydon.
a meditation of memory, grief, and motherhood.
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