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Pearl
A Novel
by Mary Gordon


6.0

based on 16 reviews
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based on 2 votes
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Official Publisher Site

Weighty themes of family, religion, feminism and sacrifice are tackled by this novel about a woman who must deal with the politically-motivated hunger strike by her daughter in Ireland.

Pantheon, 368 pages
01/18/2005
$24.95

ISBN: 037542315X

Fiction
General Literature & Fiction

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Library Journal Beth E. Andersen

Religion, political martyrdom, and thwarted dreams do battle with maternal desperation and cautious hope. [15 Oct. 2004, p. 53]

Booklist Donna Seaman

As for Gordon, she outdoes herself. All of her books are exquisite and penetrating, but in this riveting novel, her compelling characters and their spiritual quandaries, her profound inquiries into beauty, compassion, and forgiveness, and the sheer radiance of her prose are surpassingly suspenseful, brilliant, and affecting. [1 Oct. 2004, p. 282]

The New York Times Book Review John Leonard

Gordon gives God the third degree, in a demanding and rewarding brainy-brawny novel that complicates our understanding of the world instead of coarsening it, that seasons the senses instead of stupefying.

Bookslut Barbara J. King

The beauty of Mary Gordon’s love and language suffuses Pearl. It’s a book to be read slowly and savored.

Atlantic Monthly Rene Loth

Gordon has written an absorbing, affecting tale of family bonds sundered and reknit.

Washington Post Donna Rifkind

Gordon's job here was to show the intimacy in Pearl's grand stunt and the grandness in the intimate mother-daughter reunion that follows. In both of those tasks, she has most artfully succeeded.

Chicago Tribune Jane Ciabattari

"Pearl" is an extended meditation on martyrdom and justice, the shifting truths of human passion, the innate and contradictory impulses to do harm and to do good, the unconscious legacies parents hand on to children and the mysterious workings of the soul.

Christian Science Monitor Ron Charles

Gordon tells a gripping story.

Houston Chronicle Lisa Jennifer Selzman

Though I was drawn to the heart of the story, I was repeatedly distracted and disappointed by the execution.

Kirkus Reviews

Elegant prose, thought-provoking plot, mammoth themes--and sometimes slow-going. [15 Oct. 2004, p. 977]

Publishers Weekly

The novel's conceit provides plenty of opportunities for philosophical musing, but... the relentless self-examination grows tedious.

San Francisco Chronicle June Sawyers

Gordon is a fiercely poetic writer, and one who holds dearly to her beliefs. Sometimes, though, rhetoric can get in the way of telling a good story.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Marian Botsford Fraser

Pearl has a riveting power, especially for women who recognize themselves in these fierce, perplexed mothers.

The New Yorker

Gordon is an exquisite chronicler of guilt and regret, and in this flawed, potent novel many of her recurrent preoccupations are on display.

USA Today Edward Nawotka

If you don't mind the sparse plot and relish philosophical discussion, this book is for you. If you're looking for a good yarn, look elsewhere.

Chicago Sun-Times Natalie Danford

Whether readers find Pearl affecting or affected will depend largely on their capacity for conversations about and musings on family, religion, and politics.

The average user rating for this book is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

TheKate M gave it a4:
This book is full of misses and I don't want to 'stand as a witness' to it.

Theresa J gave it an8:
Great book, especially the last part of the book when forgiveness was felt by both Maria and Pearl. I really liked when Maria tells Pearl that when we know we are forgiven we "live our lifes." We read this for our book club and will be discussing it this morning, I am sure it will be a great discussion because all of us have grown daughters.

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Pearl A Novel by Mary Gordon

Pearl
A Novel
by Mary Gordon