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Pearly Everlasting

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

""A remarkable story, sparkling with brilliance." —Amanda Peters, author Berry Pickers

"One of those novels that instantly transports you to a world that's so bighearted and full of love that you can't put it down." —Willy Vlautin, author of The Horse and The Night Always Comes

An immersive and enchantingly atmospheric novel set during the Great Depression, about a girl and a bear raised as sister and brother in a remote logging camp and the lengths to which they'll go to protect each other.

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. Growing up, Pearly and Bruno share a special bond and become inseparable. While life in the camp can be perilous—loggers are regularly injured or even killed—the Everlasting family form a close-knit community with the woodsmen, who accept and embrace the tame young bear.

But all that changes when a new supervisor arrives, a ruthless profiteer who pushes the workers to their breaking point and abuses Bruno. When the man is found dead in a ditch, the blame falls on the bear; soon after, Bruno is kidnapped and sold to an animal trader. Determined to rescue the only brother she has ever known, Pearly, now a teenager, sets off alone on a hazardous journey through the forest—her first trip to "the Outside"—to find him. In the harrowing quest to bring him home through miles of ice and snow, eluding malevolent spirits and the cruelty of strange villagers, she will discover new worlds and a strength she never knew she possessed.

Steeped in rural folklore and superstition, and set against the backdrop of an enchanting woodland, Pearly Everlasting is a story about the triumph of good over evil, the beauty of the natural world, and the bonds that cannot be broken.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 5, 2024
      A spirited teenage girl sets off through the woods of 1934 New Brunswick, Canada, to rescue the bear she considers her brother in this enchanting U.S. debut from Canadian poet Armstrong (Take Us Quietly). Pearly Everlasting Hazen has been raised since birth by her father, a cook for a lumber camp, alongside an orphaned bear cub named Bruno. Growing up, Pearly listens to her father’s tales of a mythical, devil-like creature named Old Jack, whom he believes Pearly will one day meet face-to-face. Life passes smoothly for Pearly and Bruno until she’s 15, when a new camp boss arrives and begins working the men at a breakneck pace. When the boss is found dead with his face gouged, suspicion falls on Bruno, and the boss’s nephew sells the bear to an animal trader. Terrified for Bruno’s welfare, Pearly treks through the icy Canadian wilderness to rescue him. After she reclaims Bruno from the trader, the pair meet a series of challenges as they attempt to return home. Along the way, Pearly worries they’ll meet Old Jack. The adventure brims with folklore and superstition, as Pearly musters the courage to overcome her fears, and there are many lighthearted moments, such as when Pearly convinces Bruno to climb into the backseat of a car. This gentle story is sure to win Armstrong new fans.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Jean Ann Douglass narrates this Depression-era story of an orphaned runt bear that is saved by the cook at an isolated logging camp and raised to be part of the cook's family and the camp community. When a savage death occurs, Bruno the bear is blamed, kidnapped, and sold. The cook's daughter, Pearly, determined to save her "brother" from certain death, sets off on a perilous journey across a cruel and frozen landscape to bring him home. Douglass infuses Pearly with steeliness that arises from a hard life instilled with family love. Pearly must fight the prejudice and ostracism that surround her unusual family. Douglass's magic is instilling this extraordinary story with realism and illuminating values we all should embrace. L.M.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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