false 36051390 1207684 5179 0671774670 9780671774677 88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165518058m/5179.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165518058s/5179.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5179.Mother_of_Pearl 3.49 1014 Capturing all the rueful irony and racial ambivalence of small-town Mississippi in the late 1950s, Melinda Haynes' celebrated novel is a wholly unforgettable exploration of family, identity, and redemption. Mother of Pearl revolves around twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, the fifteen-year-old white daughter of the town whore and an unknown father. Both are passionately determined to discover the precious things neither experienced as children: human connection, enduring commitment, and, above all, unconditional love. A startlingly accomplished mixture of beauty, mystery, and tragedy, Mother of Pearl marks the debut of an extraordinary literary talent.

]]> 3519 3.47 1243 119 1999 1 4 false Mon Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 14:55:14 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 14:57:52 -0700 2008 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes. I’m feeling guilty, first, because I didn’t read the whole book, finishing only about the first third. I rarely don’t finish books, driven not only by an inner compulsion to complete what I’ve be...more...]]>