Mother of pearl - Melinda Haynes

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.