Pearly Everlasting

In a narrative sown with rural folklore and superstition, Pearly Everlasting is an enchanting woodland Gothic about the triumph of good over evil and the forgotten beauty of the natural world. New Brunswick, 1934. When a cook in a logging camp finds an orphaned baby bear, he brings it home to his wife, who names the cub Bruno and raises him alongside her newborn daughter, Pearly Everlasting. During the Great Depression, amidst severe poverty and dangerous work conditions, Pearly''s family and the woodsmen form a close-knit community that embraces the tame, young bear in their camp. But when a new camp supervisor--who increasingly endangers the lives of the loggers for profit--arrives, he is less accepting of Bruno. When the supervisor is found dead, Bruno is blamed, and soon after is kidnapped and sold to an animal trader. Pearly, now a teenager, has no choice but to find Bruno and sets off on a hazardous solo journey through the forest--her first trip to "the Outside"--to rescue him. To make her way home again, Pearly will have to tramp more than fifty miles through ice and snow, elude the malevolent spirit of Jack in the Dark and confront the modern-day cruelty of villagers fearful of her family''s way of life. Over those harrowing miles, Pearly will discover what it really means to be family to a bear.

Autorentext

Tammy Armstrong is the author of two novels and five collections of poetry. Her first book was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her work has appeared in Canadian Geographic, Nimrod International Journal of Prose & Poetry, Prairie Fire, and the New England Review, among others. Pearly Everlasting is her US debut novel. A former Fulbright Scholar, Armstrong holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in literature and critical animal studies from the University of New Brunswick. She lives in a lobster fishing village on the south shore of Nova Scotia.

Zusammenfassung

FINALIST Barnes and Nobel Discover Prize 2024

WINNER of the HarperCollins Canada-UBC Prize for Best New Fiction

Steeped in rural folklore and superstition, and full of remarkable characters, Pearly Everlasting is an enchanting woodland Gothic about the triumph of good over evil, the beauty of the natural world, and a bond of love that cannot be broken.

New Brunswick, 1934: A cook in a logging camp rescues an orphaned baby bear and brings it home to his wife. She names the cub Bruno and raises him alongside their newborn daughter, Pearly Everlasting.

Living in the forest amid severe poverty during the Great Depression, Pearly’s family and the lumberjacks form a close-knit commu­nity that accepts and embraces the tame young bear in their camp. But when a new camp supervisor—a profiteer who endangers the lives of the loggers—arrives, he is less accepting of Bruno.

When the supervisor is later found dead, Bruno is blamed, and then kidnapped and sold to an animal trader. Determined to rescue the only brother she has ever known, Pearly, now a teenager, sets off on a hazardous solo journey—her first trip to the Outside—to find him.

To make her way home again, Pearly will tramp through miles of ice and snow, elude malevolent spirits, and confront the cruelty of local villagers. But over the course of her harrowing journey, she will also discover new worlds, the kindness of strangers, and a strength she never knew she possessed.