Heartbreaking and redeeming,Pearlis the story of a young woman in a small English village who is struggling with the disappearance of her mother, what feels like a lifetime ago.

Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing.

Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mothers love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood.

As time passes, Marianne finds it difficult to adjust, fixated on her mothers disappearance and the secrets shes sure her father is keeping from her. Yet, in one of her mothers dusty old books, she discovers a medieval poem calledPearl, and, trusting in the promise of its consolation, it seems as if her life begins to parallel the poem’s course.

But questions remain. Marianne is ever more tormented by the unmarked gravestone in the abandoned chapel and the tidal pull of the river, and as her childhood home begins to crumble, the past leads her down a path of self-destruction. Can Marianne ever come to understand her mothers choices? And will her own future as a mother help her find her peace?