2023 Booker Longlist – Pearl by Siân Hughes
Pearl by Siân Hughes is the next book on our list. Siân Hughes is a writer who grew up in a small village in Cheshire, England. Pearl is her debut novel and is set in the place where she grew up.
Synopsis taken from the Booker Prize website: 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?
You can purchase a copy of the book here
Jen, Book Worm, and Tracy read and reviewed this book. Keep reading to find out how our panelists rated this book.
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 