Babylon Sisters: A Novel

Book Description

Catherine Sanderson seems to have it all: a fulfilling career helping immigrant women find jobs, a lovely home, and a beautiful, intelligent daughter on her way to Smith College. What Catherine doesn’t have: a father for her child– and she’s spent many years dodging her daughter’s questions about it. Now Phoebe is old enough to start poking around on her own. It doesn’t help matters that the mystery man, B.J. Johnson–the only man Catherine has ever loved–doesn’t even know about Phoebe. He’s been living in Africa.

Now B.J., a renowned newspaper correspondent, is back in town and needs Catherine’s help cracking a story about a female slavery ring operating right on the streets of Atlanta. Catherine is eager to help B.J., despite her heart’s uncertainty over meeting him again after so long, and confessing the truth to him–and their daughter.

Meanwhile, Catherine’s hands are more than full since she’s taken on a new client. Atlanta’s legendary Miss Mandeville–a housekeeper turned tycoon–is eager to have Catherine staff her housekeeping business. But why are the steely Miss Mandeville and her all-too-slick sidekick Sam so interested in Catherine’s connection to B.J.? What transpires is an explosive story that takes her world–not to mention the entire city of Atlanta–by storm.

From the New York Times bestselling author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day . . . comes another fast-paced and emotionally resonant novel, by turns warm and funny, serious and raw. Pearl Cleage’s ability to create a gripping story centered on strong, spirited black women and the important issues they face remains unrivaled.

Download Description

Now B.J., a renowned newspaper correspondent, is back in town and needs Catherine’s help cracking a story about a female slavery ring operating right on the streets of Atlanta. Catherine is eager to help B.J., despite her heart’s uncertainty over meeting him again after so long, and confessing the truth to him–and their daughter.

Meanwhile, Catherine’s hands are more than full since she’s taken on a new client. Atlanta’s legendary Miss Mandeville–a housekeeper turned tycoon–is eager to have Catherine staff her housekeeping business. But why are the steely Miss Mandeville and her all-too-slick sidekick Sam so interested in Catherine’s connection to B.J.? What transpires is an explosive story that takes her world–not to mention the entire city of Atlanta–by storm.

From the New York Times bestselling author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day…comes another fast-paced and emotionally resonant novel, by turns warm and funny, serious and raw. Pearl Cleage’s ability to create a gripping story centered on strong, spirited black women and the important issues they face remains unrivaled.

Customer Reviews:

Good Story.......2007-03-04

I have several of Pearl Cleage books, but have yet to read any of them until one of my book clubs pick this one for our read. I didn't finish it before our meeting, but I finished it afterward and it was a very good book. A little slow but good. I will have to read my other books by Ms. Cleage.

Sister Hood overcomes all.......2007-01-29

I enjoyed this fast paced, easy to read novel with characters I felt that I really knew. I was ready to drive around the city to find these locations mentioned since the book made them so real to me. I love a good plot and this one fooled me all the way!

Babylon Sisters: A Love Story Without All The Mush.......2007-01-26

Pearl Cleage does it again! She successfully puts into words those emotions that are all too common to most of us. Surprisingly, she is able to speak not only for the women characters, but for the men as well. Babylon Sisters is a love story without all of the mush. What I liked most about this book was the complexity of the characters - they have layers and the more you find out about each one, the more believable the character becomes. This book would make a great birthday gift to a friend. If you're a fast reader you can finish this in one weekend.

a good story, well-told.......2007-01-10

I loved this book, on many levels!

I'm a white woman in the Midwest, whose reading tends towards mysteries and gory thrillers, or travel- or food-related fiction and non-fiction. I was looking for something "different" and "light" to read over Christmas, so a book by a black woman about black characters in Atlanta, dealing with "women's issues" and immigration sounded interesting. (See the editorial reviews for story line.)

The mystery thread was engaging (even without anyone getting murdered!) as were the minor plot lines. I was afraid the "single-mother" and "romance" themes might be too sappy, but they weren't.

The glimpse of 'black culture' was interesting and "natural". I liked the characters; you'd be lucky to have them in your circle of friends. It was refreshing to see well-educated, affluent black characters.

There were references to books I've heard of but not read, so I'm now interested in seeking them out (e.g., the one that plays in role in the storyline).

The author's style was so enjoyable. Her turns of phrase were pleasing and the pacing of the chapters made it hard to put down. This was a good story, well-told. I plan to read more of her books.

Outstanding, Something out of the Ordinary .......2006-04-22

This is my first Pearl Cleage book and it won't be my last. The story doesn't have the typical urban fiction storyline its got a lot more to offer. The end is far from predictable. The chapters are short and the book is a quick and easy read. Cleage kept things moving from the beginning to the end. The book offers everything romance, drama, and a good discussion of immigration politics. If you want something out of the ordinary read this book.

The book is about Catherine Sanderson an advocate for immigrant woman and her daughter seventeen year old daughter Phoebe. The relationship between Phoebe and her mother grows rocky when she fails to reveal who her father is. But the main story line is about Catherine and her new job for Miss Mandeville. While working for Miss Mandevile Catherine learns about a female slave ring. Things quickly heat up as she uncovers more and more about immigrant women being sold and used as prostitutes.

Average customer rating:

Expert writing but bizarre overall
Too Scattered
Theme and Language Combine for a Great Read
Trying too hard?
Engaging and Refreshingly Different

Mother of Pearl
Melinda Haynes
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

1999 | Oprah's Book Club® | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

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ASIN: 0786866276

Amazon.com

Oprah Book Club® Selection, June 1999: Twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade is a black man who was orphaned as a child; 15-year-old Valuable Korner is a white girl who might as well have been. Petal, Mississippi, circa 1956, seems an unlikely spot for these two to connect, but it soon becomes apparent in Mother of Pearl that a friendship across race lines is just one of many miracles waiting to happen in this small Southern town. Melinda Haynes's remarkable debut novel begins in a hot August, when young Val's lifelong friendship with Jackson McClain is starting to change into something more profound, and Even is falling crazy in love with Joody Two Sun, a mixed-race woman with amazing powers.

Woven in and around these two central love stories are myriad other characters, other tales. There is 16-year-old Joleb Green, for example, whose mother was incapacitated by a stroke when he was born, and who was raised by the black housekeeper, Grace. There is Even's friend Canaan, an older black man who spends his time reading Greek tragedy and writing his work "The Reality of the Negro"; Valuable's mother, Enid, the town whore; and Neva and Bea, a lesbian couple who have helped to raise the girl. Until this year, blacks and whites have occupied separate universes, for the most part; then Joleb Green suffers a terrible accident, and it is Joody Two Sun who saves his life and Grace who restores his soul. At the same time, a pregnant Val arrives on Joody and Even's doorstep, hungry for the understanding and acceptance she cannot find at home. Though at first Even is resistant, Val's humanity soon transcends her color in his mind:

Even chuckled and shook his head, happy for a reason he couldn't distinguish other than at that moment of Canaan's near-perfect cast, all seemed right with the world, as right as a thing can be what with a white girl camped out in the middle of the Quarter with no plans of leaving.

Gradually, without really intending it, Joleb, Val, Even, Joody, Grace, and Canaan form something that looks suspiciously like a family--a relationship that will soon be tested to the limit when Val's baby is born.

Melinda Haynes has taken on a Herculean task, crafting a multicharacter story that reaches across racial barriers to encompass an entire community. She doesn't shy away from the ugliness in life--bigotry of every stripe, mean-spiritedness, betrayal, thoughtless cruelty, and death--but what interests her is the potential of the human heart to find space within itself for the most unexpected people. With its strong, lyrical language and fully realized characters, Mother of Pearl is a fine novel and a terrific introduction to a new literary voice. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

Marking the debut of a stunning new literary talent, MOTHER OF PEARL captures the irony and beauty of life in the Deep South in exquisite prose that brings to mind Kaye Gibbons and Olive Ann Burns. But Haynes creates a wholly distinctive new style by drawing on her own Southern roots and the "noble country" language of her youth in this remarkable first novel.

Set in a small Mississippi town in the late 1950s, MOTHER OF PEARL is populated by wonderfully rich and original characters with themes of identity and the true meaning of family interwoven throughout. The story revolves around twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, a fifteen-year-old white girl whose is the daughter of the town whore and an unknown father. Their paths cross through Joody Two Sun, a seer, who sets up camp along the riverbank just outside of town and becomes Even's lover. Both Even and Valuable are seeking the family, love and commitment they never had, and their search ultimately takes both of them to places they never dreamed they'd go.

Told in beautifully naunced narrative with a staggering richness that resonates with emotional truth, MOTHER OF PEARL is a haunting, bittersweet tale of the search for identity and the power of renewal.

Customer Reviews:

Expert writing but bizarre overall.......2007-03-31

Gorgeously-written tale of a mixed-bag of Southern characters whose lives cross paths in a manner which was, in my opinion, not fully believable, especially towards the end. I mean, you really have to stretch your imagination to believe such racial harmony as protrayed in the novel could actually have occurred in the years the story was set. Not likely. I also had a hard time buying the philosophical leanings of so many of these uneducated Southern folks, black or white. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive content, colloquial language, and overall pace of the novel--it's not boring or tedious, just a bit unrealistic.

Too Scattered.......2007-02-06

This novel is full of people on the outside of society in the 1950s South: the black orphan, the daughter of the town's whore, the old lesbian couple, the witch who lives in the woods, the white boy raised by a black woman after his mother has a stroke giving birth to him.

All of these characters meet throughout the story. They pair up and fall in love, discover the truth about their parents, tempt fate and death, and accidentally get pregnant.

A lot happens in this novel, but I didn't feel like it really came together. There were connections, some unusual, between characters, such as the relationship between Val's aunt and Joleb's priest. However, there was no unifying "Aha!" moment in the book when everything clicked. I felt like the author tried too hard to link everyone, but it didn't quite work out. Furthermore, I thought the mystical elements, such as the dreams and Joody's abilities, were out of place in a book that otherwise was grounded in realism. This book simply went in too many directions to keep my interest.

Theme and Language Combine for a Great Read.......2006-11-01

This excellent first novel was written in 1999, but is set in the '50s in rural Mississippi. The setting and characters feel so genuine that it's hard to believe that Ms. Haynes didn't live through the times herself. She must have listened well to her mother and grandmother who did. Blacks and whites live on opposite sides of the track in Petal, Mississippi, but their paths cross because of common human longings for love and family. The characters names let you know that you're in for something special--Even Grade, named after a phrase in a goodbye note; Valuable Korner, named after a real estate sign; Joody Two Son (understandably misspelled as Judy Tucson by Grade until he learns the story of her name) and Canaan Mosely, a 50ish African-American janitor/philosopher. In my mind, this book fell somewhere between Toni Morrison and William Faulkner in terms of scope, language and story--special territory. Highly recommended to lovers of language interested in life in the deep South, race relations and the yearnings of ordinary people.

Trying too hard?.......2006-09-24

I wasn't completely put off by Melinda Haynes' 'Mother of Pearl', but neither was I completely satisfied. I have debated with myself if I should award two or three stars, and I decided on three stars, because there are some well developed characters in this strange story. The reader will sometimes get the feeling that the author is trying too hard making this story the story of the century, and I am not sure this book deserves it.

Perhaps it is just me, but there were parts I had to skim. I had trouble understanding what the whole thing was about, and I felt too many things were left unsaid. It is not that a story needs to be pinned out, but too much symbolism and too many unsaid things makes one confusing story. And I was confused at times. And it is not like the plot is so unusual that you'll HAVE to make it that difficult to read.

All that said, the plot was good, and the book well written for the most parts. It is about the girl Valuable, growing up with her grandmother in a little town in Mississippi in the 1950'es. Due to coincidence (or is it?) Valuable make friends with black 'witch' Joody TwoSun, who lives by the Creek. Through this 'friendship', she also meets Joody's lover, Even Grade, his friend Canaan and Canaan's woman-friend Grace. There is also Valuable's boyfriend Jackson, and the troubled teenager Joleb. All of them has a voice in the story, and it is not always pleasant what they'll have to say. There is much drama in the story, most of it circling around Valuable and Jackson's relationship and around Even Grade, and his thoughts on life, him having grown up as an orphan. The racial problems in the South in the 1950'es and 60'es are touched upon, but it it not this story's main plotline, although it lures in the back of your mind while reading.

It took me a long time to plow through this one, and I am torn between recommending it or not!

Engaging and Refreshingly Different.......2006-09-07

This review refers to "Mother of Pearl" by Melinda Haynes...

I have read and reviewed several books from Oprah's Book Club", this is the first I found so captivating. The characters and the story were so engaging and refreshingly different, that the read was very out of the ordinary.

The setting is the small town of Petal,Mississippi during the early 1950's. The town's population divided by racial lines, and the denizens, and main characters of the story,both white and black, and although leading very different lives, are, due to happenstance, about to find much in common.

I loved the very real, yet unique characters and the way they talked, and the way we were privvy to what was going on in their heads. The language really seemed to add a great deal to this Southern story.Even the names given to these interesting people are unique and original.The side stories of how they came by their names add fun facts as well. Names like Joody Two Sun, Canaan Mosley, Neva Moore(this name always made me think of a line from Poe's "The Raven";'nevermore')and Valuble Korner and Even Grade, the two characters who's stories bring together an eclectic group. Val and Even meet through a mutual acquaintance.Joody Two Sun. A witchy women with powers to "read" a person. She is camped with her fire and stones by the river, and seems to possess magical and mystical qualities. Both the 15 year old, pregnant Val and the 27 year old Even, strangers to each other, are drawn to Joody for different reasons, and soon the friends of both become involved with each other as the story unfolds.

Although the story basically revolves around Val and Even's circumstances, there are other sub-plots woven through that may at first seem unrelated to any of the events, but are knitted together finely. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, although at times it seemed to jump around quite a bit. But once you get used to the style of Haynes, you can just enjoy the happenings in Petal. There's a little something of everything here. Drama, Humor, Romance, Adventure.

Recommended for those looking for something refreshingly different, yet quite engaging...Enjoy.....Laurie

Average customer rating:

Haunting and Beautiful

Mother of Pearl
Mary Morrissy
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0684196670

Customer Reviews:

Haunting and Beautiful.......2004-04-15

Can a child exist that never really was? After reading this book you'll wonder if it is indeed possible. "Pearl" is a baby that was taken from one mother by another and then returned. The journey these three women take is all based on a lie that each must weave into their own lives. Sometimes fate can be cruel and loving at the same time. Take a chance and try to find this gem, you won't be disappointed!

Three Daughters of Madame Liang (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck, 4th,)

Average customer rating:

Mother's World-Daughers World
A family divided by the Cultural Revolution
Nice intro to the Chinese perspective of the New Government
A Moving, Deeply Personal Account of the Cultural Revolution
Riveting Story; Cold War Patriotism

Three Daughters of Madame Liang (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck, 4th,)
Pearl S. Buck
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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East Wind: West Wind (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck, 8th,)

ASIN: 1559210400

Book Description

After her husband takes a concubine, Madame Liang sets out on her own, starting an upscale restaurant and sending her daughters to America to be educated. At the restaurant, the leaders of the People's Republic wine and dine and Madame Liang must keep a low profile for her daughters' sake.

Soon her two eldest daughters are called back to serve the People's Republic. Her oldest daughter, Grace, now a doctor, finds meaning through her work. Things are not as easy for her daughter Mercy, a musician who is not in demand in the People's Republic, nor for her new husband who she has brought back to China with her.

Watching her two daughters grow apart and knowing that her youngest daughter will never return, Madame Liang must also face the challenges The Cultural Revolution, and how to keep herself and the restaurant, alive.

Customer Reviews:

Mother's World-Daughers World.......2007-06-11

I really enjoyed this book as Ms. Buck was able to take the reader inside a family caught in a changing world during the Chinese revolution and show how the characters each acted and reacted according to the information they had and what they believed or wanted to believe about that information. Madam Liang, who is coming to terms with disillusionment about the revolution and her past part in it, and her daughters, who had been sent to America for education and protection and their return to China with patriotic and idealistic expectations, are classic generational viewpoint studies. The shocking ending to the story was unexpected and expected all at once. The basic story is still relevant today.

A family divided by the Cultural Revolution.......2004-03-05

"The Three Daughters of Madame Liang" was Pearl S. Buck's last major novel and it holds its own with the best of her work. In Madame Liang, Buck has created a fascinating character, a woman who is very much her own person. After doing the very un-Chinese thing of leaving her husband when he takes a concubine, which he claims is his right because his wife has produced no son, Madame Liang determines to make her own way in the world and opens a gourmet restaurant that caters to the high and mighty of the People's Republic (even good Communists appreciate good food). She has not only survived, but thrived, by keeping a low profile and providing her customers with the best. But she has sent her three daughters, Grace, Mercy and Joy, to America to be educated; and now, after many years separation, Grace has been called home by her government to serve the new society.

Madame Liang has her own opinions about the new society which she has prudently kept to herself. But Grace, back home in China, throws herself into her work as a doctor and embraces everything blindly, including a young physician named Liu Pang, who parrots everything he has read in Mao's Little Red Book. Mercy, the second sister, is a musician, whose talents are not in demand in the People's Republic; but she misses her home and induces her new husband, a rocket scientist, to return to their country. For Grace, the return home is the fulfillment of herself; for Mercy and her husband, it is a disaster. Meanwhile, the third sister, Joy, a painter, having found romance and happiness with a fellow artist who has left China for good and never intends to return, remains in America to make her life with him.

Madame Liang watches the growing tension and hostility dividing the two older sisters with alarm and resignation. She can't live her daughters' lives for them; all she can do is keep on living her own life. But her own life can't survive the insanity of the Cultural Revolution; the very success of her restaurant means she's an enemy of the working classes. The Cultural Revolution sweeps everything away in its path; including Madame Liang.

Buck writes with a flow that keeps her book moving effortlessly along like an unbroken skein of thread (one gets thoroughly caught up in the narrative before realizing that there are no chapters; the book moves from one scene to the next till the final page), covering some six or seven years from the end of the 50's to 1966. Through it all, Madame Liang's continually expressed faith in her country and people suggest that, whatever her own fate, China and its people will survive in spite of themselves. Although the book is ostensibly about her three daughters, it's really the story of a remarkable woman, and through her, the story of China in transition.

Nice intro to the Chinese perspective of the New Government.......2003-05-17

I thought this novel was a wonderful introduction to the mindset of the Chinese people, both those living in China, and those living in America, towards the new government. It was an enlightening story because as an American, we view it simply as a government as one that took away everyone's freedoms, which it did. Yet, of course, it's not that simple. The story is about that deeply-rooted devotion to one's mother country, no matter what changes it goes through. It also reveals what led to the change of government, and what problems arised and what new changes occurred afterward. Through Madame Liang, representing the older revolutionary generation, the story showed how the revolution failed, and she saw how certain mistakes in history were made. Through her daughters, it showed the hope in which the younger generation had for the new China, and their attempts to restore a strong nation within the new framework. Also revealed was the the repression of emotions, through Grace, the eldest daughter, her hopeless lusting after Liu Peng, yet knowing that his mind was narrow and brainwashed in the Communist school of thought. Of course, the repression of individual thought was evident with John Sung, the scientist who refused to create weapons to be used against Americans. The stories surrounding Mercy and Joy, Madame Liang's two other daughters, was interesting in that they both struggled with their loyalties to China, but love, in Joy's case, kept her in America, while experience in the new China, forced Mercy to escape. There were a lot of interesting themes throughout the story, the theme of love in light of this new way of life, the theme of pride in one's own race and country. The style in which the story was told was very different from that of "The Good Earth." Here it was a much more fast-moving narrative, and a great modern story.

I couldn't put this book down, but there's just one thing that bothered me, and that was the ending, which seemed so abrupt. All of a sudden certain events happened which bluntly put the entire story to an end. Certainly these events were convincing, yet it still left me completely shocked and almost disappointed once the novel was finished. That's the only reason why I gave it four stars.

A Moving, Deeply Personal Account of the Cultural Revolution.......2001-08-25

I have read more than a dozen novels by the extraordinary Pearl S. Buck, and this is one of my all time favorites. Buck's lucid writing, and deep understanding of complex cultural issues makes this a gem. Set against the back-drop of the Chinese cultural Revolution, THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF MADAME LIANG charts the deeply personal journey and loss of one Chinese family. There is a sophistication to Buck's writing that is not always immediately apparent, but once you become used to her voice, the deceptively simple prose gives way to deeply moving insights. This is a glowing, powerful novel about a family and a country at a crossroads. Don't miss it!

Riveting Story; Cold War Patriotism.......2001-01-15

Pearl Buck did a masterful job of exploring the consequences of the Chinese communist revolution. Each of Madame Liang's daughters, Grace, Mercy, and Joy, come to terms with it in their own way. The essence of the book, however, is the realization that, whether a person is attracted to communism or repelled by it, his actions are usually dictated by his own personal interest. In that sense, the book is a satiric ridicule of the communist ideal.

My Mother's Southern Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences

Average customer rating:

The best there is!
Great Interpretation of Southern Home Cooking. Recommended
Delicious recipes and funny running commentary along the way
Another "must have" Southern cookbook
Martha Pearl's Cookbook is super. Period.

My Mother's Southern Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences
James Villas , and Martha Pearl Villas
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

My Mother's Southern Desserts : More Than 200 Treasured Family Recipes for Holiday and Everyday Celebration
The Glory of Southern Cooking
My Mother's Southern Entertaining
The Heritage of Southern Cooking: An Inspired Tour of Southern Cuisine Including Regional Specialties, Heirloom Favorites, and Original Dishes
Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South

ASIN: 0026220156

Amazon.com

James Villas' background is an unusual blend of Greek, Swedish and old American South, and this book combines the recipes and often-hilarious cooking tips of his genteel-yet-feisty mama, Martha Pearl (Martha Pearl says: "There's nothing, repeat nothing, worse than a heavy, poorly seasoned, warmed-over hush puppy that's been fried in old fat") with memories of a happy gourmet childhood.

Book Description

In 1994, My Mother's Southern Kitchen first hit the bookshelves, prompting fabulous reviews and great media attention. Now it is back to follow up Jim and Martha's most recent Southern cooking opus, My Mother's Southern Desserts.

My Mother's Southern Kitchen is a priceless collection of the best dishes the South has to offer. With over 150 mouthwatering recipes, Jim and Martha Pearl show you exactly why Southerners know how to eat. From the Southern classics (buttermilk biscuits, red-eye gravy, and hoppin' John) to sinful Southern standardsmacaroni and cheese, fried chicken, and barbecuethis Southern cooking compendium is a must in any kitchen, no matter where it falls along the Mason-Dixon line.

Customer Reviews:

The best there is!.......2006-05-19

Like me, many of you have probably come across stacks of so-called southern cookbooks that are full of non-southern recipes! I was beginning to think that no one had published an accurate accounting of deep south cooking.

Then, I found this book! It is by far the best and most authentic southern cookbook I've ever seen, and I regularly use many of the recipes.

My family and I are from Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas, and like so many other southerners, we're very particular about getting food just right. After moving out west , I longed to have a greater selection of the southern recipes I enjoyed as a child, but unfortunately, the family cookbook that was passed down to me only contained a limited number of recipes. (Like Villa says, it is typical for southerners to not have recipes written down.)

Anyway, this is a highly recommended book. It won't disappoint!!

Great Interpretation of Southern Home Cooking. Recommended.......2004-07-10

Jim Villas is one of our better cookbook and culinary memoir writers, while remaining a throwback to the likes of James Beard and Craig Claiborne. His affinity to Claiborne is especially strong, as both are unreconstituted Bourbon drinking Southerners who live(d) on Eastern Long Island and wrote for the `Eastern Establishment' publishing powers. Villas' special talent seems to be in recapturing what is most familiar and most comfortable about food for Americans. This is certainly true of his most recent cookbooks `Crazy for Casseroles' and `Biscuit Bliss'. His most recent collection of culinary essays and opinions `Stalking the Green Fairy' brings out this orientation in well written essays, but no book represents his culinary roots and inclinations quite as well as this book, cowritten with his mother.

On the face of it, this book would seem to be a transcription of mother Martha Pearl's little black recipe book into a form which William Morrow can publish and we can read and effectively translate into reproductions of Mrs. Villas favorite dishes. The back story of the book seems to be much more complicated than this, as Mrs. Villas' written recipes were sketchy, poorly handwritten, and done only as an aide d'memoire for someone who cooked almost entirely by experience, and look and feel, just like every other traditional southern cook whose praxis has been memorialized in writing. Thus, Villas had to do anthropology by observing his mother at work and doing his best to estimate amounts from quantities doled out by hand and eye. This too was made difficult by an entirely familiar friendly antagonism between mother and son in the kitchen. A running theme is that Mother Villas and son agree that Jimmy simply could never quite reproduce the quality of his mother's own recipes, in spite of years spent at studying and writing about the world's cuisines. Some of the repartee which documents this antagonism is a little difficult to believe, as when Miss Martha cannot find any `White Lily' or other soft southern flour in Jimmy's East Hampton kitchen with which to make biscuits. I've been cooking regularly for less than three years and I have a regular supply of `White Lily' shipped to the Lehigh Valley from Tennessee like clockwork.

I am glad I am skeptical of Jimmy's inability to reproduce Miss Martha's recipes, as if this were gospel, it would bode ill for your or my ability to make the recipes in this book into something remotely like the jewels which appear on Martha Pearl's North Carolina dinner table. In fact, I think a fairly well practiced cook with average equipment will do quite well with these recipes thank you.

The best things about the collection of recipes in this book are that practically all of the classic southern recipes are represented here and, in spite of the crack about doing anthropology, true practitioners of this cuisine are interpreting the recipes for us. With all due respect to Villas' friend Paula Wolfert, there is no observation and interpretation going on here. This is the real deal, where cook and scribe are part of the culture on which they report.

Just as Italy has it's `oil line' separating the butter from the olive oil cuisines of North and South, I think the Mason-Dixon line could double as the mayonnaise line, as I suspect that beginning in Maryland, sales of Hellmans doubles per capita as you cross each state border from Maryland to the Carolinas. Both Villas are on very safe culinary grounds here, as they typically specify either Hellmans or homemade, AND, the Hellmans brands of mayonnaise are consistent winners in `Cooks Illustrated' taste tests.

Most recipes in this book are fairly easy, although they are typically more picky about some details of method and ingredients than fellow Southerner Paula Deen of Savannah. They are also a lot pickier about the details of method than my own mother whose ideal recipe is Deen's spiral bound church fundraiser cookbook style. Of course, Miss Martha and my mother share a passion for the very freshest corn and tomatoes in season. There are also significant differences between Deen and the Villas in even a basic recipe such as pimento cheese spread. I suspect the Villas' interpretation is more traditional and it is certainly in line with Mother Villas' cardinal rule of not messing around with the taste of the main ingredients by adding a lot of extras. Their recipe for my favorite creamed chipped beef is a good example, as it is almost exactly the same as the recipe from Mississippian Craig Claiborne, but without the addition of Worcestershire sauce.

The recipe chapters fill all the niches you expect in a traditional southern cuisine, including Breakfast and Brunch; Canapes, Appetizers, and Snacks; Soups and Stews; Salads; Meats; Poultry and Game; Seafood; Casseroles; Vegetables; Breads; Desserts; Cookies and Confections; Pickles, Relishes and Preserves; Sauces and Dressings; and Beverages. With the chapter on preserving, the book covers more than most compendia of Southern cooking.

At every turn of the page in this book, I find myself nodding in agreement over choices of methods and ingredients. The use of torn bread pieces in place of breadcrumbs in meat loaf agrees with all my best sources for this delicacy. Patties for frying and doughs for rising are all chilled in the fridge for the righteous length of times to either firm up or relax. Miss Martha does share with Miss Paula the tendency to use canned soup and store-bought croutons in casseroles and such, but the application is judicious. Note that the coverage of the North Carolina speciality, pork barbecue, is a bit light. Do not depend on this book for much smoke work.

I really liked this book. It was a perfect mix of authentic, doable recipes and stories to make them and the authors come to life. Real home cooking with a good read thrown into the bargain.

Delicious recipes and funny running commentary along the way.......2003-04-01

I have spent hours since this book arrived last week just trying to decide which dishes to make first. I ended up making a "Southern" dinner for my Wisconsin mate using the Calabash Cole Slaw and "Brown Paper Bag" BBQ Chicken (I used a Reynolds Hot Bag, thank you!) from this book and Cheddar Cheese Grits from Martha Phelps Stamps' "New Southern Basics" (ISBN # 1581822413 -- another excellent Southern cookbook). It was a big hit and nothing was wasted (next day: grits with breakfast, cole slaw and chicken for lunch!).

As a bonus you get the story behind many of the recipes and running commentary from Villas' mother on many of the recipes. It is clearly a give-and-take mother and son relationship when he says his mother drives him crazy over this or that ingredient and she implies that his version of the family recipe is a little "uppity". She says Jimmy makes his hush puppies with yellow corn meal, but she prefers white. It is both bitchy and sweet at the same time!

I already have my next meal planned from this wonderful book and can recommend it for the cole slaw and BBQ chicken recipes alone - not to mention the lively stories and commentary. Enjoy.

Another "must have" Southern cookbook.......2002-08-28

This is the cookbook I can pull out and count on to produce a wonderful dish every single time. I haven't come across a dud yet. Martha Pearl is delightful (and yes I AM hinting for a dinner invitation) and so are her recipes. The macaroni and cheese is a family favorite that already has stains on the page because I make it so often. The pecan coffee cake is another recipe I have made many times and always get compliments on. I live near Charlotte and keep hoping to run into Jimmy and Martha Pearl picking over the Silver Queen corn at the farmer's market. I would unabashedly tell her what a devoted fan she has made of this transplanted Yankee.

Martha Pearl's Cookbook is super. Period........2000-07-10

Martha Pearl is a spunky wonderful character. More than that, she is a wonderful Southern cook. Her son,James, shares her sense of humor and love of cooking. I adore the way she puts him in his place when he wants to "fuss" with her recipes. I am almost through with the entire cookbook. I have laughed and underlined and referenced. It is a great, wonderful read. Knowing recipes as I do, I can tell you that you can trust this book to give you great food. Don't wait. Don't even put this on your wish list. It's a keeper. Yum

Average customer rating:

I Loved this Book and Highly Recommend it
Skimworthy, perhaps, but Buck had the right of it.
A womans spirit!
The Mother is a literary canvas, painted by a gifted artist
ASubtle Look into Chinese Peasant Life at the Dawn of an Era

The Mother
Pearl S. Buck
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559210915

Book Description

Within this novel Ms. Buck paints the portrait of a poor woman living in a remote village whose joys are few and hardships are many. As the ancient traditions, which she bases her philosophies upon, begin to collide with the new ideals of the communist era, this peasant woman must find a balance between them and deal with the consequences.

Customer Reviews:

I Loved this Book and Highly Recommend it.......2007-03-29

For those who didn't like this book as much, I believe they missed something. I thought this was great writing and in many ways her best. The lack of The Mother's name is insignificant. You know when you're reading who is being referred to. The story is the important part.
This book involves much about honor and "saving face" and how important that was to the Chinese and in the peasants case, they had little else. When the mother starts her web of lies, to hide her shame, one lie leads to a bigger lie and before she knew it, she had spun some very sophisticated lies with props to go with them. As many believed, rich and poor, in that time and place, the sins made the Gods angry and the Gods got even. The mother believed it was her sins that caused her ultimate tragedies which were inflicted on those she loved most.
I was absolutely intrigued with this story and believe that a woman might appreciate and understand it more than a man. A woman's life was so much more meaningless than a mans and once her sons married, she suddenly became more insignificant with little say in anything and little to look forward to. A good read.

Skimworthy, perhaps, but Buck had the right of it........2003-06-20

Pearl S. Buck, The Mother (Pocket, 1934)

It is hard to know what to make of this early novel (her fourth) by Pearl S. Buck, who had won the Pulitzer Prize the year before for The Good Earth (her second) and would, in a few years, be a Nobel laureate. Hard because it is difficult to reconcile such a widely-acclaimed author with a novel such as this.

In her autobiography, Buck mentions that she almost destroyed the manuscript of The Mother, fearing it wasn't as good as her previously published novels. In this, she was correct. The Mother is not so much a novel as it as a combination of character study and morality play. Other reviewers have commented on the Biblical nature of the events herein, which is likely as apt a description as one is likely to find. The story revolves around, of course, a mother. She is never named, nor are any other members of her family (her husband's last name is mentioned once in the book's two hundred pages, but in such a way as to make it as forgettable as possible). One assumes this is an attempt to give the characters an "everyman" quality. The mother and her family have a hard life, and the mother's life gets harder as time goes on. The crux of the story happens about halfway through the novel, when she is forced to make a decision she ends up regretting for the rest of her life; she blames her hardships from there on out on that decision, forgetting that the hardships that came before put her in that position. (In other words, this is not a criticism of the novel so much as of the character; it is entirely possible Buck meant the character to be erroneous in her judgments, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.) In essence, the novel becomes the chronicles of the hardships of one person, a relentless, depressing catalog of failures unleavened by any successes whatsoever.

Other reviewers have also commented on the universality of the character. I pity them, and anyone else who overidentifies with the mother here. Anyone who has truly suffered this much hardship without the slightest glimmer of joy has been dealt the worst of lots in life, and need all the escapism they can get. It is probable, however, that the majority of readers do, at least, have a few moments of happiness, or at least contentment, now and again. They are rather more likely to question the tunnelvision of the character, and perhaps that of the author as well. Rightly so. * ½

A womans spirit!.......2002-08-07

For any woman who's feeling a bit put-upon, a bit hard done by, "The Woman" would soon shake her back into perspective.I know that this has ever been the lot of women in poor farming communities in third world countries, but it's frightening to realise just how little things have changed since these long past times of the beginning of the beginning of communism in China.We never learn the mothers name as she is simply that--the mother of the children of a poor farmer, a co-worker in the fields and the carer of his elderly mother. It's a hand to mouth existence with only the hope of enough food to sustain them on a daily basis and enough money from the crops that they can spare to be sold, to pay the rent of their fields. When her husband runs off in search of a more exciting life, the mother is left with the care of the family and is forced to work like a beast of burden in order to exist. Only her indomitable spirit sustains them ,even though her life is shattered by a series of events that would break a lesser woman.

The Mother is a literary canvas, painted by a gifted artist.......2002-02-25

In Pearl Buck's autobiography, "My Several Worlds," she reveals that she almost destroyed the manuscript of "The Mother", feeling that it was not worthy of publication. Had this happened, literature would have suffered a great loss. The characters that Ms. Buck created here - the tragically blind daughter, the grandmother who wears her own shroud in anticipation of death, and especially the mother - are exquisitely drawn and memorable. The suffering of the mother, whose life after the strange disappearance of her husband seems an endless series of heartbreaks, is almost unbearable for the reader. But ultimately the mother is comforted, as is every mother, by the birth of children and grandchildren. This is the story of a seemingly insignificant woman, worlds away from me, whose dreams and longings and difficulties are not so very different from my own. This book is definitely and very enthusiastically recommended.

ASubtle Look into Chinese Peasant Life at the Dawn of an Era.......2002-02-06

Pearl Buck's books of the 1930s and 1940s were among the first to introduce Americans to the Chinese way of life. In "The Mother," Ms. Buck takes an in-depth look into the life of a peasant woman who lives in a poor hamlet at the dawn of the communist era - when ancient and modern Chinese ideals collided. Her life is fraught with hardship, and her views are tainted by centuries-old patriarchal tradition. Her few joys are simple - a love of food and the longing for male grandchildren sustain her through days of drudgery. Her life is touched by the consequences of both "old" and "new" Chinese culture in ways I will not reveal here, as I don't want to ruin the story.

While the book's prose has, on occasion, been criticized for its archaic style, Buck merely presents her story in language that mirrors the peasant colloquial of the day. This use of language and Buck's wonderful descriptive abilities transport the reader to the nameless mother's home, and open a window into the thought processes that governed her daily travails and simple pleasures. Buck's gift for storytelling is once again in evidence in "The Mother," and her elegant writing style evokes vivid imagery. All of the book's characters remain nameless throughout the novel - an effective convention used by the author to emphasize the fact that this story could be applied to any of millions of "faceless" Chinese peasant families. It also references the way peasant women may have felt about themselves - faceless servants at the will of their husbands, families, and circumstance. There is a subtle political message within the story as well - it isn't difficult to discern how Ms. Buck felt about Communists and the role of the peasant class in Chinese society.

"The Mother" is an excellent story - this quick read will leave a lasting impression on you.

Pearl: A Novel
Average customer rating:

The Communication Crisis in Pearl

An Intelligent Read

I didn't, but some will need toothpicks...

Is Pearl under a bushel or is she allowed to shine?

Incorrect Information

Pearl: A Novel
Mary Gordon
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 037542315X
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Amazon.com

Without preamble, Mary Gordon takes the reader straight to the heart of the matter in Pearl. On Christmas night, in 1998, Maria Meyers gets a call from the State Department. Maria, a New York liberal, keeps the illusion of control of her surroundings, and the news she gets is confusing, annoying, and frightening. Confusing because she doesn't understand why Pearl, 20 years old and Maria's only child, has done what she has done, annoying because there has been no forewarning, and frightening because Pearl might die. Maria is definitely not in control here, a condition that makes her vastly uncomfortable. The caller tells Maria that Pearl has chained herself to the flagpole at the American Embassy in Dublin, where she has gone to study the Irish language. Her action is the culmination of six weeks of starvation. She is very ill, dehydrated, and near death. She has left three letters on the sidewalk: one meant for the media, one for her mother, and one for their dearest and oldest family friend, Joseph Kasperman.

The media letter says "...I am giving my life in witness to the death of Stephen Donegan and to the goodness and importance of his life. Second, to show my support, my admiration for the Peace Agreement, and those who have worked toward it. Third, to mark the human will to harm." Pearl believes that, due to a careless remark said in anger, she is responsible for Stephen's death. She has been consorting with members of the Real IRA, those hardliners who will make no accommodation to stop the violence. Pearl breaks with them over an act which places Stephen, a hapless, slow-witted boy, in the hands of the law. Her primary philosophical concern is her conviction that the "human will to harm," is pernicious and pervasive. She wants to opt out of any further possibility of harming anyone.

On this convoluted thread, Mary Gordon marches forward with a stunning exploration of revisited themes, such as Catholic-Jewish heritage, trouble with fathers, and the nature of personal responsibility. A stylistic note: Gordon employs an omniscient narrator to make comments, in the nature of "Gentle Reader" asides. It is sometimes irritating, but a small price to pay for Gordon's careful deconstruction of everyone's thoughts and actions as Maria and Joseph arrive in Dublin, where Maria confronts Mick, the American angel of the Real IRA, Finbar, Pearl's lover, and Pearl's doctors. She is used to directing traffic and is thwarted on all sides by people whose agendas are vastly different from hers. Joseph is a shadowy figure, more acted upon than acting, and when he does decide to stand up he makes a ludicrous error. Gordon has forged an entirely satisfactory and plausible ending for a precarious set of circumstances. The book is thought-provoking, asking and inspiring the reader to take a position on issues as old as time and as new as the headlines. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

On Christmas night of 1998, Maria Meyers learns that her twenty-year-old daughter, Pearl, has chained herself outside the American embassy in Dublin, where she intends to starve herself to death. Although Maria was once a student radical and still proudly lives by her beliefs, gentle, book-loving Pearl has never been interested in politics–nor in the Catholicism her mother rejected years before. What, then, is driving her to martyr herself?

Shaken by this mystery, Maria and her childhood friend (and Pearl’s surrogate father), Joseph Kasperman, both rush to Pearl’s side. As Mary Gordon tells the story of the bonds among them, she takes us deep into the labyrinths of maternal love, religious faith, and Ireland’s tragic history. Pearl is a grand and emotionally daring novel of ideas, told with the tension of a thriller.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Download Description

The long–awaited new novel from acclaimed writer Mary Gordon.

Customer Reviews:

The Communication Crisis in Pearl.......2007-06-18

Mary Gordon's Pearl is a novel written in an elegantly fascinating style. The plot might appear not that excitement-ridden, yet the content is so profound that at some points I thought I was reading a philosophical text disguised in a novel's attire. Dealing with political and ideological extremism, the novel explores a human, communicative crisis that is in urgent need of repair. The crisis is a special one in which communication has become crippled by virtue of a detachment in the characters' process of understanding and defining the world. In this crisis the parent-child connection has grown a tenuous relation. While each character thinks that they understand, ultimately they realize that their understanding is plagued by doubt that stems from the fact that they understand the world totally differently from those who supposedly share the same understanding as theirs.

The novel treats a very significant issue that of parent-child relationships. As obvious as it appears, no one of the characters is involved in a healthy parent-child relationship to the extent that the readers themselves start reflecting upon and questioning whether their family relationships are in good shape or not! This sort of reflection and questioning presumably is what Mary Gordon succeeded in, through fabricating a story that proceeds until it reaches a point where the readers find it dull, and find themselves not in the right mood to carry on turning over the novel's pages. The fact is that at this point the readers start feeling the dullness of life the characters arrive at when they realize that whatever they believe in is to be questioned, and that their answer is not The Answer.

(......)

At the end, we feel that Pearl's characters have learnt something. They have learnt to forgive, to give up their ideals for the sake of solving the communicative crisis. Though she still seems not able to figure out what her daughter needs beside love, Maria, entangled in her daughter's critical situation, rethinks her rearing of Pearl, and questions the validity of her political values that once separated her from her father. When Maria was informed that her father passed away, "she could not weep, would not, because she knew if she allowed herself to grieve she would become a mourner, which would dilute her sense of righteousness, her sense of acting in the name of justice" (90; ch. II). But at the end she asks her dead father for his forgiveness, and "weeps for the lost face of her father, the face of her child, in danger of being lost to her forever" (321; ch. III). Pearl realizes that, though one day each one will have no choice whether to stay alive, death is not a choice, and answering her question "Why is it that it's life we want?" (339; ch. III), we want life to live reality that is constituted for us, and also reality that we constitute. We live reality as it is produced and maintained, from a transmission perspective, and also we live it as we repair and transform it, from a constitutive view. This way, communication is possible, and this is how James W. Carey In Communication as Culture defines communication, stating that it is a "symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed" (23).

(For your comment, you can reach me at: bensaidmohsine@gmail.com)

An Intelligent Read.......2006-10-01

Mary Gordon has published five novels, a book of novellas, a collection of short stories, a memoir, two books of essays, and a biography of Joan of Arc. She is a recipient of the Lila Acheson Wallace Reader's Digest Award, a Guggenheim fellowship and a 1997 O. Henry Prize for best short story. Her latest novel, "Pearl," may delve into similar issues as her other works: religion, motherhood, feminism, yet it is unlike anything I have read before.

Immediately the reader learns of the crisis at the center of the book: Maria, a feminist single mother receives a call from the state department informing her that her daughter has chained herself to the flag pole outside the American Embassy in Dublin. She hasn't eaten for six weeks and her death has been planned to coincide with the celebration of the birth of Christ. We feel Maria's initial shock and helplessness as she makes plans to fly to Ireland.

What makes this novel so unique is Gordon's use of a sort of benign, cerebral narrator to tie the threads of three lives together and to clue the reader into all the nuances that led Pearl, Maria's daughter, to commit such a desperate, deliberate act of sacrifice. It's as if the reader is thrust into the action and then through skillful, yet sometimes painfully slow narration, the reader learns the why of it.

Tackling large issues such as Catholicism, Judaism, anorexia, Irish politics, martyrdom, feminism, motherhood, despair, human propensity toward violence, Gordon is fearless in illuminating all for the reader's examination.

In the letter given to Maria, Pearl writes:

"Try to call upon the values you have given me: a love of justice, a need to bear witness to the truth. I am doing this in the name of justice, in witness to the truth. I am marking a wrongful death, for which I was responsible, and other public wrongs that will lead to death and more death."

Pearl, a student of language, believes that her death will be the ultimate sentence, the viable only sentence she can offer in the name of her despair.

And in the letter given to a family friend, Joseph, the son of her Maria's father's housekeeper:

"I believe that of all people you will understand this best, will comprehend most fully the decisions I have made. A boy died because of me. Because I rendered him as nothing in my self-righteous blindness in the name of an idea. I made a thing of him. I stole his faith and hope.
I know about some things that you and my mother never told me: faith, hope, and love. I have never naturally been a person of hope. Nor, I believe, have you. I have lost my faith in the goodness of life. Replacing that belief: a belief about malignity. In the will to harm. And the dismay that this impulse is in myself."

Pearl has come to martyr herself not only out of profound guilt, but because she has lost her ability to see humanity in anything but the most dire of terms. To see any of characteristics other than the will to harm. The narrative offers examples of the most shocking genocides experienced in history: the Holocaust; Rwanda; Bosnia; Cambodia. And other equally horrific examples of violence on the smaller scale all brought to the page so that the reader may understand Pearl's despair. Fortunately, Gordon has also included forgiveness and redemption in the mix making the experience of reading the book a more fully realized contemplation on human nature.

At times the exposition feels slow, but by the end it won me over and I have come to see that slowness as one of its many good qualities. It allows the reader time to digest difficult, often painful, issues at a pace conducive to thought. This is not a novel to be devoured but rather savored. And a novel not to be missed.

I didn't, but some will need toothpicks..........2006-09-16

My feelings about the novel vary. There are aspects of it that I truly enjoyed, and aspects that I found weighty or hmmm... slow.
"Slow" is a death-knell of a word, in book reviews, so I want to qualify my use of the word here, because truly, Pearl is a book well worth reading, but one should maybe know a few things ahead of time.
Like, for instance, that the first few pages are a bit misleadingly promising.
By that I mean that they contain more real action in them than is to be found in the next 200! Admittedly, the book [I think] really gets the reader involved in its end pages, but these parenthetical highpoints bracket an immense amount of musings upon family, religion, and politics. A lot of nostalgic montage. Stuff that may call for toothpicks to hold open the eyes of some readers.
Secondly, the author has employed an all-knowing [God-like], yet totally unknown [to the reader] in the final analysis, narrator. In some ways it seems disappointing that we are never really shown who is telling the story. At one point, the narrator pops out from behind his or her curtain, and says, "Think of me this way: midwife, present at the birth. Or perhaps this: godfather, present at the christening."
Well... I don't know. I think I would like to know which it is!
Maybe for some, this would be OK. But for me, I found myself unduly preoccupied with wanting to know who this narrator is.
Deconstructionist DeconSHMUCKtionist!
But thirdly, and positively now, I am a reader that enjoys good [detailed, onion-peeling] character development, and I think we have that here, in this book.

Here's the gist of the story itself.
A New York Christmas night [not dark and stormy, that we know of...] the year, 1998. Maria Meyers returns from a party to find a phone message from the State Department, advising her to contact them. She learns that her 20 year old daughter Pearl, studying language at a university in Ireland, has brought herself to the brink of death by starvation and then chained herself to the flagpole of the U.S. Embassy. Motive currently unknown.
Maria is appropriately horrified. This is out of character for Pearl. A mother's worst news! "She packs her bag." [p.9].
Then she calls Joseph, an old family friend in Rome who thinks of Pearl as a daughter, and the two of them set off immediately for Dublin from their separate locations.
"Do you think she'll die?" Maria asks.
"No, I don't think she will die," he says. "You won't let her."

The thing is, Maria herself is someone who is well-acquainted with protest, with activism. Sort of a flower-child of the `60's, she marched and demonstrated and ranted as did so many others of that generation, in the turbulent days of Vietnam, Kent State, and the assassination of JFK.
Now her own daughter is staging this protest... willing to lay down her life in a cause that Maria does not understand.
The bulk of the book explores why Pearl is doing what she is doing... and we learn along with Maria [actually, long before Maria, thanks to our narrator who is way ahead of the airplanes] the cause of Pearl's angst with life. She is sacrificing her life to "bear witness" to the death of a young boy, an event for which she feels partially responsible, as well as to make a political statement for the peace process in Ireland.
Martyrs, hunger-strikers, suicide bombers, terrorists. These deliberate self-orchestrations of death are something we are all familiar with. Like, if you own a TV, you are familiar with it. And so the novel raises [I think] a lot of important issues, and asks profound questions of its readers, and of its characters.
Is there anything truly worth dying for?
Is there anything worth living for?
Is it always desirable to live?
The strength of this novel [for me] is found in the portrayal of the changes wrought within Maria, Joseph and Pearl as they grapple with these universal questions. At one point, it is put this way: "Why is it that it's life we want?" [p.341].
I found it compelling. Rich in its philosophical musings. I will always choose this, if the option is the BANG-SMASH-POW of pointless plot. I guess it's my inner-Dostoyevsky, coming up for air!
Mary Gordon is successful at making me believe that for some people, the conclusion "Life is worth living" is not easily arrived at!

Recommended by Bookpuddle with a rating of 3 puddles out of a possible 5, and with the proviso that you remember that I am Dostoyevsky reincarnate!

Is Pearl under a bushel or is she allowed to shine?.......2006-08-04

The first word that comes to mind regarding this book is 'message.' Gordon's message is crystal clear and timeless; during certain events in an individual's life forgiveness becomes as necessary as food and water. And lack of forgiveness can kill.

Perhaps the bleak nature of the setting and the cold and colorless passages in which the characters find themselves best represent the world's tired spiritual reality and civilization's rampant hostility. I just wish these things were not quite so triumphant in all of the characters--including Pearl's mother, the rational presence at the heart of the storm. Regardless of this or maybe because of it, the book makes a fearless statement about our times.

It's just that one hungers for the occasional absence of cynicism to combat the darkness.

Incorrect Information.......2006-05-30

I'm only about 30 pages into the book and already I've found information that's incorrect. The author states that bobby Sands was 28 when he died....he was only 27. Not sure I want to finish ready a book that has information that is so easy to verify incorrect....

Average customer rating:

Fascinating Read
Worth reading.
A moving family story
A book from the heart
Read it now!

The Child Who Never Grew
Pearl S. Buck
Manufacturer: Woodbine House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Mother
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Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0933149492

Book Description

Woodbine House is proud to bring back into print a classic in disability literature. Written by the Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Good Earth and many other books, this personal account broke a national taboo when it was originally published in 1950. Buck's inspiring account of her struggle to help and understand her daughter with mental retardation was the first disclosure of its kind by a public figure. Today, much of the emotional experience Buck so eloquently describes still rings true. New material written especially for this edition amplifies her story and gives the book an important historical perspective.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating Read.......2006-02-28

It was fascinating to read the account from such an "open-minded" individual as Pearl Buck as having had such difficulty dealing with/ accepting her disabled daughter. Although she clearly loved her daughter she hid her from the rest of her family and the rest of the world almost until the end of her life. Ms Buck was an advocate for the disabled but could not deal with society's prejudices with regard to her own child.

Worth reading........2002-07-07

A very moving book. The book was written 50 years ago, and it sounds as current as if it had been written today. A mother's feelings are timeless.

A moving family story.......2002-06-11

"The Child Who Never Grew," by Pearl S. Buck, is the true story of the struggle of the author after learning that her daughter Carol, born in 1920, was mentally handicapped. The 1992 Woodbine House edition contains a foreword by James Michener, an introduction by Martha M. Jablow, and an afterword by Janice C. Walsh, who was Pearl's daughter and Carol's's sister.

Jablow notes in her intro that "Child" first appeared as an article in "Ladies Home Journal" in 1950 and was shortly thereafter published in book form. Jablow notes that the book is "a landmark in the literature about disabilities." As such, I consider "Child" a fitting companion text to a book like Helen Keller's "The Story of My Life." Jablow notes that mental retardation "carried a shameful stigma" when Buck first had this story published; Jablow provides further useful historical context for the main text.

Buck writes very movingly of her heartache at the discovery of her child's plight. She documents her awareness of the stigma against people like Carol, and also tells of her search for an institution where Carol's special needs might be met. Buck passionately defends the humanity and worth of the mentally retarded, and tells what her experiences with Carol taught her: "I learned respect and reverence for every human mind. It was my child who taught me to understand so clearly that all people are equal in their humanity and that all have the same human rights."

Walsh's afterword continues the story of Carol. She fills in some of the very obvious gaps in Buck's story. Walsh's contribution to this book is very moving, and includes photos of Carol.

In addition to being a work of historical and sociological importance, I found "The Child Who Never Grew" to be a moving and very personal piece of American literature. For another good companion text, try William Styron's "Darkness Visible," in which the distinguished writer tells of his battle against clinical depression. Also, try "On the Way Home," by Laura Ingalls Wilder; this book has additional material by Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and like "The Child Who Never Grew" is thus a sort of mother-daughter literary collaboration.

A book from the heart.......2000-06-26

I cherish this book. I am the mother of a wonderful little boy with special needs who is also terminal. I could never put into words all my thoughts and feelings. Ms. Buck did that beautifully and with heart. I reread it often and share it with other parents needing the encouragement that she bestows with her wonderful writing. Thank you!

Read it now!.......2000-05-03

Somehow, Michener and Buck managed to cram an epic into under 200 pages. A revealing look at American society and one life that ended in tragedy - or was it rapture? Little can be said that will not give away key book elements, only this: Read it now! English majors and profs especially. End.

Pearl inlay: An instruction manual for inlaying abalone and mother-of-pearl

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From the Introduction:

Pearl inlay: An instruction manual for inlaying abalone and mother-of-pearl
James E Patterson
Manufacturer: Stewart-MacDonald
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Art of Inlay and Expanded: Design and Technique for Fine Woodworking
Pearl & Wood Inlay

ASIN: B0006F59TG

Customer Reviews:

From the Introduction:.......2006-01-25

The bible of pearl embellishment, this book has been the inspiration for generations of inlay artists. In it you'll find helpful pictures of jig set-ups and tooling as well as sample diagrams of inlay shapes. Also includes instructions for grinding, sawing, routing and gluing abalone and mother-of-pearl; making jigs for cutting dots, diamonds, and strips; abalone purfling techniques; and tips on pearl engraving.

Love Pearls: Messages from a Mother to Her Daughter (Heart & Star Books)

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College Gift
Mother's Wisdom!
Love Pearls Messages from a Mother to her Daughter

Love Pearls: Messages from a Mother to Her Daughter (Heart & Star Books)
Nancy Swan Drew
Manufacturer: Celestial Arts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Motherhood | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

Parent & Adult Child | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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The Artful Spirit Book (Heart and Star Books)
First-Aid Kit for Mothers: Loving Care to Wrap Your Heart and Soul! (Heart and Star Books)

Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0890879834

Customer Reviews:

College Gift.......2006-03-16

I was given this book by my mother when I went off to college. She hid it in with all of my school books so I wouldn't find it. I was so surprised when I found it while unpacking. I read it right away, and I knew how much my Mom loved and missed me. I would read it whenever I got homesick and I encourage every mother to get this book for their daughter, you will never know how much your daughters will cherish it.

Mother's Wisdom!.......2001-02-19

What a fantastic book! A must buy for every mother to her daughter. When your daughters leave home it's a nice book to remind them of all the things you worked years to instill into them. Very touching, light-hearted, and every so true.

Love Pearls Messages from a Mother to her Daughter.......2000-12-02

Love Pearls is a book that every Mom should read with her daughter, just alittle at a time, so it can be savored. Excerpts should be put in college allowance check envelopes, lunchboxes and under pillows. The messages inspire and foster that special mother/daughter bond. I read it with my 10 year old, it made us laugh and cry and hug. I loved it so much I bought copies for my sisters and for their daughters. I think every daughter should have a copy!

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