A review by dodie
Pearl by Jo Knowles

5.0

Jo Knowles packs a lot into this story of two best friends, their strange families, and the way that love changes and disrupts life. Pearl goes by the pet name of Bean, and spends most of her free time with neighbor Henry. Both bored with the slow pace of life in a dying town, they spend time on the couch with Henry's homebound (by choice) mother watching soap operas. Bean's mom Lexie is a hardworking (and hard drinking) waitress who seems to resent having Bean and grandfather Gus to take care of, and when Gus dies, Lexie seems almost exuberant. As family secrets begin to leak out, Henry and Bean begin to question their hopes and plans for the future.

Beautifully written, full of descriptive detail, readers will be taken with the challenges that life has put before Knowles' characters, and more importantly, how they choose to address those challenges.