She's only eight when her mother goes missing, and all her life, particularly when she's faced with motherhood herself, Marianne imagines the reasons for the disappearance and wavers between incredulity, rage, and sorrow. This debut, long listed for the Man Booker of 2023, is beautifully written, further proof of the presence of the Irish soul in its literature. However, I only gave this a middling rating because Marianne's grief wore me down.

I found the balance between sentimentality and brutality masterfully achieved. The horribleness of life is never sugar-coated, yet the book still manages to take on a mythological, almost fairy-tale-esque effect. It's on the shorter side, but rich and powerful.

Listening to Pearl on audiobook (because it was the only format in which I could get an early ARC), I agree with other reviewers who note that narrator Laura Brydon (who gives a marvellous performance) speaks with a smile in her voice, giving this melancholic meditation on memory and grief a wry, gallows humour vibe. I didn’t dislike the dissonance between voice and subject matter — and the playfulness in Brydon's voice as she recited rhymes and children’s songs did seem appropriate — but something in the voice did prevent me from emotionally connecting with the main character’s trauma; I was more amused (and there are several deliberately funny bits) than moved (despite the tragic bits), and something in that makes me want to round down to three rather than up to four stars. Still: a very interesting experience, and especially interesting for the further reading this prompted about the medieavel poem “Pearl” that inspired this novel.. Like with previous Booker Prize nominees (such as Reservoir 13, Lanny, or Treacle Walker), the Booker jury seems to have a soft spot for books that engage deeply with the British countryside and its folklore, and Hughes finds this soft spot with a draughty country home and its green garden and muddy riverbanks — all haunted by the absence of a mother who left one day and never came back. I’m certain this would be a different (better) reading experience with the written word, and while I did like this very much overall, I will round down to three stars.

I have read a few reviewers of this book surprised that it was nominated for the Booker Prize. The story is simple and the book quite short, but the real heft in this novel is what is not said. The story between the lines. It is so well told, and yet we are told nothing. I listened to the audio book, beautifully narrated by Laura Brydon who is perfect casting – being able to narrate the words of a very young child and an adult equally convincingly. I am half-way through my reading of the booker longlist, and so far, this is the one I have enjoyed the most.

Pearl is an exploration of grief and the way in which we carry the past with us. The narrator, Marianne lives with her Dad, Edward and Baby Brother, Joe. There was a Mother too - but as time goes on, the Mother becomes a sort of ghost, a ghost who lives within Marianne herself whilst also managing to be an absent 'presence.'
Marianne's erratic schooling leads to an erratic, creative life through which she explores motherhood, love and, eventually becomming herself.
The audio version is read by Laura Brydon whose voice lends credibility to Marianne's somewhat chaotic thoughts.

Heart-achingly gorgeous. I didn’t know what to expect from this little book, but it offered me so much.

One of the things I love when following book awards is discovering books that I wouldn’t have otherwise come across and Pearl really is one of those hidden gems from this year’s Booker Longlist (pardon the pun).
Pearl is a beautiful and thought provoking story of a young woman, Marianne, who lost her mother at 8 years old and the book traces her life as she searches for what happened to her mother. She was the last person to see her mother alive so is interviewed by the police to understand where she last saw her, you see this experience through a child’s eyes and she blames herself for losing her mother and not being able to find her again, like she would a toy or a shoe. We see how memory blurs but we cling to what we want it to be, she thinks she remembers her mother reading Charlotte’s Web to her as a child in a window seat while she has chicken pox but then she acknowledges she had chicken pox when she was much older.
Her missing mother haunts each of her life stages from forgetting how to read, skipping school, cutting herself as a teen and struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of her own little girl Susanna.
Poetry, folklore and mysticism is weaved into each chapter moving from childhood nursery rhymes to the medieval poem “Pearl” by Gawain Poet and the legend of the Green Knight which she feels is key to her mother’s disappearance.
Overall, I found it a stunning debut with an uplifting and satisfying conclusion. I listened to it on audiobook which I felt worked given it’s written in a first person narrative so I felt that the narrator Laura Brydon gave the perfect voice to Marianne.

Huge thank you to @wfhowes and @netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review

My Booker Longlist 2023 experience drastically improved with this one. I absolutely loved it. What a beautiful, thought provoking, clever little book. ❤️
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From the blurb - “Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love.”
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This one is full of whimsy, grief, love, and sadness. Right from the first page I knew I would adore it. Marianne is a wonderful and very unique character who I could happily spend more time with. And I thought the portrayal of mental illness was really well done. So many great quotes throughout - incredible that this is a debut!

The Narrator was incredible. I could not imagine a better voice for Marianne. Absolutely perfect.

Marianne's mother disappeared when she was eight. Now grown up and with a daughter herself, Marianne struggles to hold on to the memories, and finds consolation in her mother's copy of a medieval poem, Pearl.

On grief and memory.

Hughes bestows a tremendous sense of place combined with finely drawn characters.

The audio edition, narrated by Laura Brydon, is clear and well-performed.

My thanks to NetGalley and W F Howes for the e-ARC.