Pearl

Perhaps the most intriguing character in this book is the narrator. As the book develops, she inserts herself more and more into the story line with asides and questions. The author does not leave it to the reader to ask the important questions: She has the narrator confront the reader directly with them. (If I were a student looking for a novel to write about, this would be an easy choice: The questions are all there waiting for the answers supported by the plot.} I enjoyed imagining different persona for the narrator--gossipy middle-aged coffee drinker, older grandfatherly type rocking and talking--you get the idea--and I enjoyed filling in the other side of the conversation. I'd recommend it to a friend or reading group.

This is the densest and most serious of all of Mary Gordon's novels. It is not an easy read. I am reminded of that as I read the other reviews here. Nor is it particularly entertaining. But I was deeply moved. Loss, sacrifice and forgiveness are the themes of this big book.

When I read the reviews on line, I was amazed at the range, from 1 star to 5. I feel those that gave this wonderful, engrossing novel only 1 star just didn't get it. Mary Gordon, I believe, is not trying to tell a universal tale, although horrors occur all over the world. What she has written is a deeply personal, heartfelt novel of three people whose lives are intertwined against the background of the political situation in Ireland. Her exquisite writing and precisely drawn characters hook you from the first page. Kudos to Mary Gordon!

The plot of Mary Gordon's new book "Pearl" is eerily familiar. Like Carol Shields' "Unless" a mother's daughter is immolating herself. "Pearl" is in Dublin chained to a flagpole at the American embassy. And there you have the entire plot. Mary Gordon explores three characters, the mother, the daughter and the uncle-like figure who has been visiting in Rome when he finds out about Pearl's intended sacrifice. This book is really an extended development of the main characters, their lives, their loves, their fears. I realized about half way through the book that I was still finding out about each of the characters and I was being gently surprised with each discovery. Resonances of Irish fatalism, sacrifice and Catholicism, faith and Judaism sound throughout the book. However, this is not a religious book, it is a human book. I have read each book of Mary Gordon's and this is by far her most mature and deepest work.

"Why do we choose to live?", Pearl asks her mother, Maria. Pearl asks this question as she is lying in a hospital bed in Belfast after starving herself for six weeks and chaining herself to a flag pole. Maria thinks and says "Because it seems we are meant to." Mary Gordon has written a powerful novel asking the questions we sometimes think about. What is life about and why am I here? The story centers around Pearl. A young woman, graduate of Radcliffe who goes to Belfast to study the Irish language. Pearl is the daughter of Maria, a very successful business woman who is loved by her employers. But, a woman who lives alone and has not been successful with relationships in her life. There is Joseph, the man she was brought up with. Maria's mother died when she was very young and her bereaved father brought Joseph's mother into their lives to care for their home. And, she brought her son Joseph. Joseph and Maria feel a bond of brother-sister love and nothing more. Pearl's father died as a young man, and Maria has been alone since that time. In Belfast, Pearl feels at loose ends. She goes to college, but doesn't really get to know anyone. She meets a young man Finbar at a college pub. Finbar is working with the Irish Republican Army to bring peace to Ireland. He is a rebel. He also studies the Irish language, but his real interest is in freeing Ireland of her English landlords. Pearl is caught up in this quest and becomes involved with "the Troubles". At some point she becomes involved with Mick, an older American who has a young son he left in Ireland. An accident occurs and Pearl holds herself responsible. She feels guilt and that she must pay for this responsibility. She starves herself, and we find her chained to a flagpole at the American Embassy in Belfast. Two notes explain that she is here to die in the memory of Stephen Donegan. Pearl is saved by wonderful physician who becomes her psychiatrist. A woman who tries to save the young who do not want to live any longer. Pearl, at first refuses to see her mother. She wants to die, and she knows her mother will convince her to live. Joseph comes from Rome to be with Maria and somewhere there is a breakthrough for Pearl, her mother, Joseph and the doctor. This is a novel that explores the role of beauty and art, religion, political action and the relationship of mother and daughter. A beautiful novel that gets to the soul of each of us. This is a novel for all of us to relish and savor. And Pearl asks that question we find difficult to answer; why in a world of sorrow and injustice, should we choose to live? How would you answer? Highly recommended prisrob