Harare Review of Books

229 pages.

First published in May 2023 (Indigo Press).

Fiction.

Pearl is a story about an ancient poem, and about grief, and mothers. It’s about travelling from girlhood into womanhood with a part of you missing, where all you have are fragments of memory. Marianne is cared for and raised by an amazingly present father, but she feels the loss of her mother acutely. Her brother was too young to have known their mother, and because she went missing after walking out of the family home one afternoon, Marianne has always felt abandoned.

However, like for many of us, time and growing up bring a measure of healing, with possible answers and some closure. We begin to understand our parents in retrospect; this proves true for Marianne, too. Throughout Pearl we’re reminded that in bereavement and grief, in the words of Tennyson: Though much is taken, much abides. Marianne holds onto all of the whispers of memory that keep her mother alive.

Pearl is a work of art, and its beauty is in how it’s pieced together. It’s a beautiful tribute to love and family and to motherhood, as well as a keen portrait of loss.

Thank you to The Indigo Press and to Edelweiss for access to this DRC.

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