Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mother of Pearl
Book Review: A six-sided story
Summary: 4 Stars
As many characters and subplots as a Russian novel . . . and all the steamy ambience of Mississippi, make for a fine read. Haynes makes those magnificent first-novel mistakes of a greatly talented writer, by pouring out all the fiction that has apparently been building up in her for quite some time. The plot is rich with complexities and Dickensian surprise connections among characters and stories. Yes, you may be challenged, keeping track, but the payoffs when relationships show up late in the game are most satisfying. There's way more looking into the back corners of the story, and even fleshing out characters who aren't strictly necessary, than Haynes will likely continue to do if she tries to put herself into steady production. But I enjoyed the richness of the background behind the background behind the background. A starchily 'vertical' maiden aunt starts out seeming like a plot convenience halfway through, and becomes a very interesting person, with a life of her own, for example. Houses have as much personality as people in this novel--the achingly tidy, impoverished homes in 'the quarter' where the black characters live, the heavy enslavement of ornamental swans in another house say everything about a wealthy life built on a hideous institutional racism, the slant corners of Valuable Korner's not-quite-home reflect the girl's sad, insecure hold on life. Themes emerge that show up later in Haynes's second novel, Chalktown--the loving care given to the infirm and incapable, particularly. I'm inclined to take a little against the more flambouyant elements in this book. Joody Two Sun with her 'sight' and her hair in sticks and her line of chatter about Deep Mother and her showy gifts . . . well, she's a bit too 'new age' to convince me of her presumed cultural roots. The dream visions of the gutted sow are likewise in the 'far out there' realm. I like it that her wise-old-man character has interested himself in Greek Tragedy, because it's right that what's being enacted here (not Antigone, for sure, though she quotes it) is one of those deep, archetypal horrors in which the young and innocent inadvertantly commit crimes against nature (incest) and bring down upon themselves destructive cruelties which have everything to do with the past of the entire culture and nothing to do with their own entirely natural love for one another. Haynes can certainly tell a complex story, holding your interest, and generating great love for the time, place and people. Although it's clearly a 'first novel', it's also rich in maturity and fine writing.Book Review: Beautiful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am shocked by some of the bad reviews this book received. I thought it was outstanding. It is beautifully written. The characters are diverse, magical and thoughtfully crafted. I loved this book!Book Review: Best Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
The last thing anyone needs is to read another review of this book, but I had to get a positive rating up there. Just finished this book today and I have to say it is the best I've read in a very long time. I am disappointed at the average rating this book is getting because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are so many mystical moments in this story - i.e. when Valuable meets Joody in the woods for her first "reading". I've never experienced writing such as this. It is poetry.Book Review: Best book I've read in a while
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't believe I almost didn't give this book a chance. I saw that the average review was only 3 stars, but I bought it anyway. Now I'm so glad I did. It did take me a while to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I read it on a few flights, but had put it away several times because I didn't want to cry in public. I will be passing this one around!
Book Review: Challenging Prose, but interesting nonetheless
Summary: 3 Stars
This book really took awhile to get used to. I had to start it a few times before I could even get past the first few pages. The prose is so thick and metaphorical it requires more effort than I was expecting for a summer novel. At first, I also found the names rather cheesy - Even Grade, Valuable Korner? I mean, really.
Once I started to get into the actual story I began to enjoy it however. The characters start to really show their personalities and you start to care for them all - Canaan's stubborn grumpiness, Valuable's tenacity, Joody's quirks. The author really creates quite the set of characters, and while they're not wholly believable, there are enough pieces of reality to let you believe.
I kept going back and forth in my feelings about the book. The book seemed to grow in its intensity up until the flood. At that point it was quite exciting and I kept wanting to read more. However, the flood for me seemed like an ending to the book. There was the resolution of the drought being over, and the sense that everyone was just beginning their new lives together. Joleb had been found and rescued, and all seemed well. With Val's pregnancy in the background during that time, I found myself wondering why there was so much left in the book. Here is where it became more difficult to read again. The general flow of the book seemed to halt in its tracks.
I had really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Jackson and Val grow and evolve, and was rather disappointed when Jackson left. When he doesn't show up until the end of book again, I'm almost mad that he did come back. All the other characters were developed so much more fully by that time, Jackson seemed like an afterthought. He'd been gone too long for me to care too much about him as a character.
While I didn't really think so while reading the book, thinking back on it now there are quite a few storylines and characters. While interestingly intertwined, it's difficult to describe even a basic plot for the book, which means that it's probably too complicated. Also, while the author tries to be metaphorical, the book really didn't make me stop and ponder the deeper meanings of her text or of life. I think I just wasn't willing to put that much effort into a novel during the summer. A literature class would probably have a very different time with it and get more out of it.
This is a good book with an interesting story, but it's probably a great book if you are willing to spend the time and effort into unraveling it's vast, deep meanings. I think they must be in there somewhere.