‘A Pocketful of Pearls’ by Shelley Bates. I really enjoyed it.
It tells the tale of Dinah Traynell, a woman brought up in the (fictional) cult/sect, “The Elect”. It’s one of those sects that are “Christian” but do not live a Christ-like life. Where the men are basically God’s mouthpiece and the women are nothing much. The leader of their area is called ‘The Shepherd’, and he is seen as their direct link to God. I promise you, he is not a Godly man.
The beginning of the story sees Dinah at her father’s funeral. Her sister has recently been ‘silenced’ (shunned) as she became pregnant outside of marriage. Her mother has major issues, and the two of them don’t get along. Enter Matthew Nichols. He appears this night, and Dinah decides to employ him as a hired man. He is actually a professor, but after a false accusation of sexual abuse, he lost his job and decided to go on a road trip. However, his car broke down, and his savings quickly dwindled, and by the time he gets to Dinah he is looking quite vagrant-like, is starving and needs help.
In a series of twists and turns the two of them somehow manage to help each other through weird times in each of their lives, including when Dinah’s sister abandons her baby to their care.
There’s some pretty full-on themes in the story, some crazy cult-related happenings.
I really quite enjoyed reading it. And whilst adding it to my Shelfari bookshelf, I discovered that it’s actually part of a trilogy… so I will have to keep an eye out!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you!!