Eliza Henry Jones’ P is for Pearl is a sweet piece of summer escapism. Set in a quiet beach town in Tasmania, complete with romance and hints of mystery, it’s an easy way to pass the time over the summer holidays, sitting out in the sun with a drink in hand.
The reader is dropped into the life of Gwendolyn Pearson, who is just getting comfortable in her new step family. While the arrival of two new neighbors and the scent of romance pushes things forward, much of the novel is devoted to unraveling Gwen’s past while she uncovers family secrets.
The mystery feels a little forced at points, with Gwen going about her life as usual until a passage of her diary appears on the page and reveals that all is not right in her world. The reader knows that something dark and tragic has happened, so it’s hard to be engaged in average teenage antics while they wait for more clues.
Before all of the pieces start to fall together, the characters feel very archetypal, filling the niches Henry Jones needed for the narrative. Then the dam breaks, and we finally get to see how these characters were affected by tragedy. As Gwen struggles to accept the truth about her mother, she has some real conflict with the people around her, and the story is filled with life.
The re-assemblage of a family after a loss is a complex situation, and Henry Jones provides plenty of potential with a stepmother and brother, a new half-sibling and a withdrawn dad. Tension and reconciliation are an important part of the recovery process, and it would have been nice to see this earlier in the novel.
P is for Pearl is about identity, in a subtle way. While the core focus is the mystery of Gwen’s mother, it’s also about finding herself outside of her person she shaped herself to be to please her mother. It’s a novel about grief, but also about the never-ending changes we make as people.
Eoin Colfer’s bestselling middle-grade adventure mystery novels chronicle the lives of twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl. In the first Artemis Fowl novel, we meet our eponymous character, who is more devious and clever than most adults. The novel follows Fowl after he attempts to catch a fairy in order to obtain gold for ransom. His main motive …
Contagion by Teri Terry is a ticking time bomb of a novel, each chapter bringing the reader closer to the point of impact. This pre-apocalyptic dystopian novel set in Scotland follows two unique and compelling viewpoints; Shay, whose world is about to be changed forever, and Callie, who has seen everything but can communicate nothing. …
Eleni Hale’s Stone Girl is an incredibly powerful and honest story about the Australian foster care system. Drawing on elements of Hale’s own childhood, the novel is a confronting look into the troubling conditions faced by the children most in need of care. When twelve-year-old Sophie is moved to a foster home after the death …
In 1984, one of modern literature’s most celebrated works, readers are introduced to Winston Smith, who lives in a dystopian society in which everything–from actions, movements, careers, and, even in some cases, thoughts–are monitored and recorded tirelessly. In this society, all individuals are governed by organisations who mandate conformity and allegiance, and who will cause …
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny. For Deka, reaching a certain …
Margot McGovern’s Neverland is a complex look into mental health through the lens of a mythical world that most people will be familiar with. Kit, who has repressed memories from traumatic events in her past, finds herself on the island that was her childhood home, now a facility for mentally ill teenagers. As she struggles …
Book Review – P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones
The reader is dropped into the life of Gwendolyn Pearson, who is just getting comfortable in her new step family. While the arrival of two new neighbors and the scent of romance pushes things forward, much of the novel is devoted to unraveling Gwen’s past while she uncovers family secrets.
The mystery feels a little forced at points, with Gwen going about her life as usual until a passage of her diary appears on the page and reveals that all is not right in her world. The reader knows that something dark and tragic has happened, so it’s hard to be engaged in average teenage antics while they wait for more clues.
Before all of the pieces start to fall together, the characters feel very archetypal, filling the niches Henry Jones needed for the narrative. Then the dam breaks, and we finally get to see how these characters were affected by tragedy. As Gwen struggles to accept the truth about her mother, she has some real conflict with the people around her, and the story is filled with life.
The re-assemblage of a family after a loss is a complex situation, and Henry Jones provides plenty of potential with a stepmother and brother, a new half-sibling and a withdrawn dad. Tension and reconciliation are an important part of the recovery process, and it would have been nice to see this earlier in the novel.
P is for Pearl is about identity, in a subtle way. While the core focus is the mystery of Gwen’s mother, it’s also about finding herself outside of her person she shaped herself to be to please her mother. It’s a novel about grief, but also about the never-ending changes we make as people.
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