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Pearl cover art

Pearl

By: Siân Hughes
Narrated by: Laura Brydon
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Summary

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 Ltd

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What listeners say about Pearl

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Raggle taggle

This took me back to my primary school days with all the folk songs we sang and rhymes I did with my mother. I liked the narrator who isn’t a well known actor for a change. This is Booker listed and it a shame it wasn’t on the women’s prize list. I hope to read the book once the library has it

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  • Overall
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Beautiful and tender

Beautiful narration of a tender tale of loss. The narrator’s voice seamlessly transitions from the protagonist as a child to an adult travelling through the ups and downs of life, a perfect transition that puts you in the heart of this character.

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An interesting & beautifully written book.

An unusual story, beautifully narrated by Laura Brydon.

Was mesmerised by the writing, and everything within the pages of this extraordinary book.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Pearl

This was a slow starter in which nothing seems to be happening, but keep listening,as the story gets continually better and better. Worth persevering. A quiet sad book but ultimately uplifting. It made me think.
I didn’t like the readers accent.

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