Mother of Pearl

Rating:
Summary: Poorly crafted
Review: I really wanted to like this book. The plot's premise and its characters are intriguing. Unfortunately, I found the book to be marred by the author's clunky writing style. There are too many characters and story lines that are clumsily drawn and that never coalesce. After awhile, it almost became punitive reading.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Characters.
Review: I loved Even, Joody, Canaan, Grace and Joleb...enough that I would read a sequel involving these characters. I found the language beautiful and suited to the setting and the quirky characters. I'm very impressed that this is a first novel.

Rating:
Summary: Have never been to the South, but feel I have now...
Review: This book has given me a better understanding of what it is/was like in the South. The descriptions of the physical landscape and emotional day to day and tramatic lives of all of the characters were so well deliniated. I just wished the book could have been longer, to find out what happens to Sophie & Pearl.

Rating:
Summary: Not an honest picture of the place, time or people
Review: No, not everyone in Alabama is illiterate. It took a week for me to readthe book. It was easy, boring, but mostly unlikely. The humor of the caricatures(not charactures) made me chuckle at first, then I got angry. Set in the 1950's in Mississippi? Well, perhaps someone could have gotten away with this charade back then, but let us hope we are more intelligent now. Perhaps a short story or two would have helped the writer learn to research her material better.

Rating:
Summary: Rambling. Too many characters to follow! Disjointed.
Review: Oprah never selects books that flow easily and have less drama. Life is difficult, why do we have to read about it! The south needs a break! The author had to take it to the 50's since I felt she was living under a rock otherwise! Move on! Let's see some growth. A friend gave me the book on loan. I was glad I did not buy it! The author needs work! Very cumbersome. Had to keep a notepad handy to record all the characters.I was lost from chapter to chapter. All I can say, I am glad it is over. Not a book for entertainment. Too much work for this reader.

Rating:
Summary: Alot of obscence language and hard to read
Review: Slow at first, hard to follow along. Surprise ending. Alot of swearing through out this book. Sometimes unsure of who the character is. Hard time following along with the plot.

Rating:
Summary: IF YOU LOVE SOUTHERN THEMES THIS IS FOR YOU
Review: I am particularly fond of southern writers and southern themes (small town struggles etc), and because I had recently finished The Bingo Queens of Paradise, which I loved, I didn't expect to find another "good read" so quickly, usually takes me a month or so, but Melinda Haynes' characters and story captured me. This is a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read this year!
Review: Beautiful language, well drawn characters...my favorite were Even, Joody, Caanan, Grace and Joleb. My suggestion if you find the language difficult, let your eyes skim and the story come to you! Remember your swimming lessons: relax and float, don't thrash or you'll drown!

Rating:
Summary: Loved the book! Enjoying the audio version!
Review: Have just purchased the audio of this book and Nana Visitor's reading of it is wonderful!!!

Rating:
Summary: This book is work
Review: While I appreciate the author's ability to convey this interesting character study, I find it to be more toil than entertainment. However, I'll probably be a better person for having read it. . .if I live that long.