Pearl
Pearl by Mary Gordon, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on April 11, 2006, is a reprint edition comprising 368 pages. The narrative begins on Christmas night in 1998 when Maria Meyers discovers that her daughter, Pearl, has chained herself outside the American embassy in Dublin, intending to starve herself. This shocking act prompts Maria, a former student radical, and her childhood friend Joseph Kasperman, who serves as Pearl’s surrogate father, to rush to her side. The story explores the complex dynamics of maternal love, personal beliefs, and the historical context of Ireland.
Readers will find a deep exploration of family life and political themes as the characters navigate their relationships and confront the motivations behind Pearl’s drastic actions. The novel delves into the intricacies of faith and the emotional landscapes shaped by personal and collective histories. Through this compelling narrative, Mary Gordon invites readers to reflect on the bonds that tie individuals together amid crises, making Pearl a significant addition to contemporary literary fiction.
Official synopsis Publisher
On Christmas night of 1998, Maria Meyers learns that her twenty-year-old daughter, Pearl, has chained herself outside the American embassy in Dublin, where she intends to starve herself to death. Although Maria was once a student radical and still proudly lives by her beliefs, gentle, book-loving Pearl has never been interested in politics–nor in the Catholicism her mother rejected years before. What, then, is driving her to martyr herself? Shaken by this mystery, Maria and her childhood friend (and Pearl’s surrogate father), Joseph Kasperman, both rush to Pearl’s side. As Mary Gordon tells the story of the bonds among them, she takes us deep into the labyrinths of maternal love, religious faith, and Ireland’s tragic history. Pearl is a grand and emotionally daring novel of ideas, told with the tension of a thriller.
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