This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Sisters Cathy and Monty Bourton are baffled when a large pearl is placed under each of their pillows on the same night. The pearls, which are believed to have originated from the East, are valuable, with one jeweller describing them as priceless. As Cathy and Monty begin to search for the person who gave them the pearls, their pasts begin to unravel, unearthing unexpected secrets that have been buried for decades and could change the way the sisters view themselves and their parents.
I must admit I was a bit daunted when I began to read Pearls. The book is quite an epic read at over 700 pages and it did take me a couple of days to get into the story. I wasn’t sure I was going to warm to the main characters, with Cathy being a serious, wealthy businesswoman in the City and Monty being a famous singer living in the states. The women come from a wealthy background, with a Lord for a father so they didn’t seem like your average, down to earth women. But, as their stories progressed, we see their lives have been far from easy and I rooted for them each time they were knocked down, willing them to pick themselves back up again.
Pearls tells the story of several people, from Cathy and Monty and their father, Lord James Bourton, to the exotic Ayesha, a peasant village girl who fights her way to success and wealth. Their stories span seven decades and take part in both Europe and the East. I thought it may prove to be confusing with so much going on and the timeline jumping all over the place but it wasn’t difficult to keep up and I liked that I never knew what would be waiting for me at the next chapter.
To me, the book felt like a series of shorter stories, chopped up into chapters and scattered with the other stories until they came together in a dramatic conclusion. I enjoyed some of the stories more than others and I do think it could have been cut down so it wasn’t quite such a hefty read but overall I thought the book was fantastic and mysterious and I thought the layout of the book and the way it shifted focus so frequently added to the intrigue.
8/10