Rating: 
Summary: take it slow---don't miss a word.
Review: "Mother of Pearl" by Melinda B. Haynes is written in a time before I was born. The events focus around the year 1956. PLEASE Do Not rush through these chapters. Melinda can say more in one sentence than many authors say in a lifetime. I was pulled back in time. I am a white female. After reading this book, I can say that I have been inside the mind and heart of Grace, Even, Cannan and Joody-all black. I found myself pulling for them and wanting to spit in the eyes of the local white folks. During the flood sceen in the truck , I laughed out loud so hard it hurt. Father Russ was so refreshing--when Joleb loses all hope and peace--Father Russ reaches inside and loves Joleb, showing the true love of Christ . I wish I had this Father Russ to talk to sometimes. I miss Even. He was the strong one--I see his face today. I long to hear from him again. Hint...Hint..... I have seen the paintings of Melinda Haynes and she is a wonderful talented artist--this time she is painting the canvas with stokes of words that touch the center of your soul. READERS...... Take it slow.
Rating: 
Summary: A six-sided story
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: oil of olay *did* exist in the 1950's...
Review: contrary to one negative reviewer's claim, and in case anyone is interested. It was invented in South Africa in 1946, and was originally used to treat the skin of soldiers burned in WWII. That said, I'm truly confused by the negative comments made about this beautiful novel. It's one thing to find a book "boring" if the language is more difficult than one prefers (admittedly, this may not be beach-blanket reading), or to dislike characters for whatever personal reasons. It's another thing altogether to accuse the author of creating "unbelievable" characters, and to make that accusation a part of public review(why is it so unbelievable that this black character would quote Homer?), or to accuse an author of being "pretentious" if she writes difficult prose. This novel is so beautifully written that it aches with that beauty; it's just that exquisite. Among my favorite authors, are Barbara Kingsolver; Toni Morrison; Gloria Naylor. Among my favorite novels, _The Poisonwood Bible_; _Beloved_; _Jazz_; _Mama Day_; _Ahab's Wife_ (Sena Jeter Naslund). If your tastes run similar to mine, give this novel a read -- it's lovely and complex, and as clear as a moonlit night in a deep woods.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic
Review: I adored the prose-like writing of this book. It was beautifully descriptive. The tea-colored water, the old worn sign whose purpose had been forgotten...all these wonderful details really set the scene for this story. It's almost like painting with words. Of course, the characters were glorious. I especially liked Joleb, whose bluntly spoken words had me laughing out loud.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Keep reading!
Review: I had a hard time staying with the book at first because the slang used in the story was very much a southern, time dependent writing style; one that I was not accustomed to. But I'm very glad I stuck with it, because her writing style is wonderful. I loved that all the people that she wrote about were stars of her stories; and I do mean 'stories' and not 'story'. She gracefully fluctuated in between characters and made them real. I loved the way she brought these people to life and made them interesting, each in their own right. After a while I could hear them talking in my head as I read along, adapting to their southern accent and slang and understanding them. It would make a great movie if some talented producer wanted to give it a shot. Of course you always lose something in the translation when adapting to a movie plot.There were only a couple of puzzling items; her need to talk about a sow split up it's middle in various parts of the story; giving it wisdom at that, and her need to describe the color brown. I guess those things will remain a mystery to me. But please do read it; it is worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: Feel like I wasted my time.
Review: I should have given up on this book early on but I stubbornly stuck with it. The story did get a little better...but I still feel as though I wasted my time.
Rating: 
Summary: Like crawling through thick, Southern, SLUDGE
Review: I was excited about this book when I bought it. I opened it up to the first page, read it, stopped, and read it again. I was confused. I'm an English graduate student. I should be able to understand it on the first try, right? Little did I know I would start a whole novel of reading a bit, stopping, going back and reading the same bit again. Ms. Haynes, while ambitious, is a little too concerned with showing off how many words she can fit into a sentence and leaves the plot, and characters, secondary. Truth is, I gave the book to my boyfriend when he was suffering from insomnia and he said it worked like a charm. The REAL award should go to the person who wrote the synopsis on the back cover. Bravo!! Way to rope a reader in!!
Rating:
Summary: Like crawling through thick, Southern, SLUDGE
Review: I was excited about this book when I bought it. I opened it up to the first page, read it, stopped, and read it again. I was confused. I'm an English graduate student. I should be able to understand it on the first try, right? Little did I know I would start a whole novel of reading a bit, stopping, going back and reading the same bit again. Ms. Haynes, while ambitious, is a little too concerned with showing off how many words she can fit into a sentence and leaves the plot, and characters, secondary. Truth is, I gave the book to my boyfriend when he was suffering from insomnia and he said it worked like a charm. The REAL award should go to the person who wrote the synopsis on the back cover. Bravo!! Way to rope a reader in!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't give up on this one!
Review: I'll admit, like some of the other reviewers, I thought the story got off to a slow start. There were alot of characters to keep track of and the author seemed to jump from one line of thought into a completely different plot line. I listened to the book on audio and had to really pay attention as it was a little hard to follow at times. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because all the characters did eventually tie together and I found myself loving this story. I liked the way Valuable got along with the black people in her community, and especially liked Joody Twoson (I hope I'm spelling it correctly as I didn't see it in print.) She was able to "read" people and I thought it added a lot of interest to the story. I would recommend that those who gave up at page 100, go back and try it again. It turned out to be one of the best books Oprah has picked in my opinion and I've read most of them.
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