Overview of Pearl
Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing.
Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood.
As time passes, Marianne finds it difficult to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her. Yet, in one of her mother’s dusty old books, she discovers a medieval poem called Pearl, and, trusting in the promise of its consolation, it seems as if her life begins to parallel the poem's course.
But questions remain. Marianne is ever more tormented by the unmarked gravestone in the abandoned chapel and the tidal pull of the river, and as her childhood home begins to crumble, the past leads her down a path of self-destruction. Can Marianne ever come to understand her mother’s choices? And will her own future as a mother help her find her peace?
RMC Book Club read Pearl during the Spring 2025 semester
Pearl Discussion Questions
1. Any hot takes?
2. What did you think of the rhymes at the beginning of each chapter? How do they relate to the story?
3. Marianne remembers things and then realizes her memories cannot be correct based on the timing of other events. Does this say something about Marianne or her relationship to her mother? Have you ever had a memory and then realized your memory had to be incorrect?
4. Marianne spends a lot of time thinking about her mother, but what do you make of her relationship with her father and brother?
5. Partway through the novel Marianne learns she had an older brother who died as an infant. What did you think of this reveal? Does it change your perception of Marianne’s mother? Should her parents have told her sooner?
6. Pearl is a medieval poem about a father visiting the grave of his deceased daughter. It is a poem about a parent losing a child. Marianne is a child who lost a mother. How do you understand her relationship to the Pearl poem?
7. Do you think the Pearl poem relates to Marianne’s relationship with her own daughter?
8. Marianne is also interested in the poem The Green Knight, which was written by the same medieval poet. How does the Green Knight relate to Marianne/the book?
9. Do references to medieval poems distract from the story? Does it add to the book?
10. What did you think of the ending? Were you satisfied/disappointed?