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3.5 

Pearce Oysters

By Joselyn Takacs
Pearce Oysters by Joselyn Takacs digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A fractured family, a devastated community, and the disaster that brings them together.

Pearce Oysters, a lush, evocative, finely-drawn debut novel set on the Louisiana coastline during the historic 2010 oil spill, follows the Pearce family, local oyster farmers whose business, family, and livelihood are all on the brink of collapse.

Eye-opening, eco-fiction at its best, Pearce Oysters highlights the grit and beauty of lives lived in an overlooked corner of the American South and the interdependence of nature and man. Diving deep into the bonds of family, culture, community, class, and industry, blazing new talent Joselyn Takacs elevates the voices of her deeply sympathetic characters: Jordan, the reluctant head of his family’s storied oyster business; May, his distressed, widowed mother who has her own unexpected drama; and Benny, the beatnik musician brother, who returns from New Orleans to help with the crisis.

Inspired by years of her own research, Takacs’s debut novel sparkles as it shines a light on murky waters, old wounds, the power of a family clinging to survival, and their inspiring path forward.

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58 Reviews

3.5
Expressionless Face“Should have DNF’d. I SO badly wanted to love this book!! There was no plot. The book was more about who people were dating than about the oil spill. Uninspiring. Disappointing. The only character I liked was Kiki, the others were boring to me.”
Thumbs Up“This story gives a clear view of a family and a community filled with tragedy and hard times. It was beautiful to watch the growth of Benny throughout. But this story really isn’t about growth of character it seems. It was more of being a fly on the wall and witnessing a moment in time and how each character reacted to the oil spill in their waters. It was heartbreaking and eye opening. I honestly enjoyed it and felt the conclusion was perfect for what the story was. A little slow for my taste, but the narrator for the audiobook made it immersive and enjoyable.”
Red Angry Face“Wish I felt more emotional connection to the characters. Appreciate reading fiction about a real event I remember taking place. I may think of this one moving forward re: capitalism and climate disasters.”
“It had been too long since I read a good slice of life. Back to my roots”

About Joselyn Takacs

Joselyn Takacs holds a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Fiction from Johns Hopkins University. Her fiction has appeared in Gulf Coast, Narrative, Tin House, Harvard Review, The Rumpus, DIAGRAM, Columbia: A Journal of Art and Literature, and elsewhere. She has published interviews and book reviews in the Los Angeles Review of Books and Entropy. Joselyn has taught writing at the University of Southern California and Johns Hopkins University. She lived in New Orleans at the time of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, and in 2015, she received a grant to record the oral histories of Louisiana oyster farmers in the wake of the environmental disaster. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband.

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