Overall thoughts on the book:
Pearce Oysters is a fictional story about an oyster farming family trying to survive the BP oil spill in Louisiana. The town is fictional and the people are fictional, but it’s supposed to take place really far south along Bayou Lafourche. They go into Grand Isle several times. I enjoyed the book. It made me sad for the families that lost jobs and for the animals that were hurt. I will say though that the author is from Oregon, so do with that what you will.
More details on the book and lots of spoilers:
I enjoyed the book a lot. I didn’t know much about oyster farming so I learned something about that. The characters were interesting. It follows a family. Two brothers and a mother. The father has died. One of the brothers lived in New Orleans for a while but moved back home to help his brother run the family business after the BP oil spill.
The mother attempts dating for the first time since being widowed, which doesn’t really end well. This book is really just about family and friends, small town drama, and environmental disaster.
The book addresses some difficult topics such as depression, overdose, family drama, immigration issues, and obviously environmental issues. Everyone in the book seems kind of sad, which could be a result of living in a small and relatively isolated town or the fact that the older brother was forced into the family business whether he wanted it or not. And the younger brother was an aspiring musician who couldn’t make it out of New Orleans.
It ends very neutral. Everything breaks apart, but it happens so slowly you feel like everything falling apart is the best outcome. You’re resigned to the outcome by the time it comes.
Final thoughts:
I would recommend this book. It would be a good read for someone who likes reading about family dynamics. It would be a good read for someone who likes reading about environmental issues. It would be a good read for someone who likes reading about slow small towns. I would probably even read it again. It’s an easy read. I didn’t fall in love with the book but I enjoyed reading it.
Bayous and Books 