Mother of Pearl is a work of art! Melinda Haynes has written not only a story I will never forget, but painted a masterpiece with the strokes of her prose. There are many books depicting life in the Deep South, and I have read a few in my life. None that have left me feeling like I may have been there myself, and even known the parade of characters living in these pages even though each one is so uniquely crafted. If this is not on your list of life time classics to read before you die, you must add it at once.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it. I kept hoping for a plot, as the author seemed to be doing a pretty good job of developing the characters. And I thought I could see a plot coming, but it never came — at least not in the first quarter of the book. Character development and stage-setting is all well and good, but without a plot that grabs and holds you, why read it? It’s unfortunate, because the author writes well otherwise.

Beautiful book. With such deep meaning and a big story behind it that what it appears.

It can be hard to follow at first with the writing style, but keep with it as it's worth it. Has alot of characters. Most intertwine but I feel like there was a few that were unneeded aswell as some of the descriptions of surroundings etc . But in a way they built up the main characters more and showed you why they are the way they are.

I really don't understand all the 1 & 2 stars . And feel like they either didn't give this book a proper go. Or they failed to see the story for what it is and how deep it is. I guess not everyone is made for deep reading

I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, but I absolutely adored this book. Great characters and unique plot. The storyline seems to meander around quite a bit, and you don't know where exactly it's going, but then by the end it all comes together beautifully.