Mother of Pearl

by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Barrie Graeber has two great kids, a loving husband, and a respected job as the high school counselor in her close-knit community. Without warning everything unravels when her teenage daughter, Pearl, is betrayed by friends and lashes out.

Nothing prepares this mother for the helplessness that follows when her attempts to steer her daughter back on course fail and Pearl shuts her out...

Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, MOTHER OF PEARL brings us into the heart of a mother bound by an incredible burden, who ultimately finds she must recognize her own vulnerability and learn to trust in something much bigger (from Goodreads).

My Thoughts

Do you ever start a book and think - ok, I know what this is going to be about? Well, I did that with this book and got it totally wrong!

It was interesting to read the different reactions to what happened to Pearl. I liked the way Barrie fought for her daughter even though everyone was telling her to let it go. She just knows something is not right and refuses to give up on finding the truth.

I think at it’s heart, this book is about having faith even during times of struggle. A long time ago, there was a show called Touched by an Angel. One of the characters said “having faith doesn’t mean we will never have bad experiences. It means we will have something to hold on to and help us through bad experiences”. That is what I thought of as I read this book. Even though the basis of this story is sad, in the end it has a positive message.

A well written debut by Ms. Gilbert. I look forward to more from this very Talented author.

Thank you to Abingdon Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: September 1, 2012.