Mother of Pearl - Tapa blanda

For all those who loved Janet Fitch’s WHITE OLEANDER and Anita Shreve’s THE PILOT’S WIFE. The American bestseller, MOTHER OF PEARL is an extraordinary and unforgettable debut. ‘Summer here may be sweltering, but there’s enough going on to keep the beauty parlour abuzz’ The New York Times

’There’s no television but daytime dramas unfold... ’ Welcome to Petal, Mississippi. Summer 1956.

Twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, a fifteen-year-old white girl, daughter of the town whore and an unknown father are both seeking the family, love and commitment they never had. When 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, all three are forced to take on the savage miseries and saving graces of the past and present in the Deep South – in a haunting, bittersweet tale of the search for identity and the power of renewal.

"Something absoutely wonderful is going on here." Pat Conroy

Welcome to Petal, Mississippi. Summer 1956.

Twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, a fifteen-year-old white girl, daughter of the town whore and an unknown father, are both seeking the family, love and commitment they've never had. When 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, together they are forced to take on the savage miseries and saving graces of the deep South.

‘An extraordinary read . . . Melinda Haynes is my catch of the year.’

Oprah Winfrey

‘Like a novelist not only writing about the 1950s, but writing in the 1950s, Melinda Haynes brings a whole, rambunctious world onto the page.’

New York Times

Melinda Haynes grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She now writes full time from her home in Alabama where she lives with her husband. Mother of Pearl is her first novel.