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A review by happiestwhenreading
Pearce Oysters by Joselyn Takacs
4.5
“Sometimes I think life just kind of grinds you up, and it isn’t your fault. There are all sorts of structural reasons that people fail. Because they’re born in a poverty-stricken country or their parents are cruel or one day a plane crashes into their house, scalding all the children. It can all go away at any moment. This sandcastle you’ve been guarding all your life.”
I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting into with Pearce Oysters, but I quickly realized it had a lot of ingredients that I enjoy: complicated family dynamics, environmental activism, and a book that taught me quite a bit about something I knew nothing about: oysters! 🦪
Set in Louisiana during the BP Oil Spill, Jordan is the main owner of his father’s (and grandfather’s before that) oyster business. With 5000 barrels of oil dumping into the Gulf Coast, it’s only a matter of time before his livelihood, and the life of his oysters, is threatened. He calls his brother back home from New Orleans to help him out, and all their complicated past also bubbles to the surface.
While I liked the characters in this book and their respective arcs, what I enjoyed most about this book was the environmental conservatism undertones. I loved learning about the oyster industry - and while I am a farmer’s daughter (of corn, wheat, and millet) - there were similarities to the environmental concerns while also preserving their way of life.
I didn’t expect to connect so much to this one, but I did. I don’t live near the coast, and while I remember this oil spill, I was greatly unaware of the real repercussions it had on the local people, the ocean creatures, and the aftermath following the spill for many years in the future.
This is a great book for fans of “The Light Pirate” and “Migrations”.
I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting into with Pearce Oysters, but I quickly realized it had a lot of ingredients that I enjoy: complicated family dynamics, environmental activism, and a book that taught me quite a bit about something I knew nothing about: oysters! 🦪
Set in Louisiana during the BP Oil Spill, Jordan is the main owner of his father’s (and grandfather’s before that) oyster business. With 5000 barrels of oil dumping into the Gulf Coast, it’s only a matter of time before his livelihood, and the life of his oysters, is threatened. He calls his brother back home from New Orleans to help him out, and all their complicated past also bubbles to the surface.
While I liked the characters in this book and their respective arcs, what I enjoyed most about this book was the environmental conservatism undertones. I loved learning about the oyster industry - and while I am a farmer’s daughter (of corn, wheat, and millet) - there were similarities to the environmental concerns while also preserving their way of life.
I didn’t expect to connect so much to this one, but I did. I don’t live near the coast, and while I remember this oil spill, I was greatly unaware of the real repercussions it had on the local people, the ocean creatures, and the aftermath following the spill for many years in the future.
This is a great book for fans of “The Light Pirate” and “Migrations”.