Attention eco-fiction lovers! Joselyn Takacs’ PEARCE OYSTERS follows a fractured oyster harvesting family following the catastrophic BP oil spill in 2010.

I loved learning about the wetlands of Louisiana and the generational work of oyster farmers through Joselyn’s beautiful prose. She deftly drew parallels between the Pearce family’s complicated dynamics and the environmental effects of unchecked corporate power. And she sure did fire me up with the many moments— big and small— of the lack of accountability BP afforded due to their power.

If you’re looking for a story exploring family relationships, climate change, and small town life, this is the book for you!

This was really good, a solid and richly developed debut.

Mixing family drama with climate fiction may be a new favourite combination.

Takacs writes from a place of deep knowledge you can tell she’s done immense research on the 2010 BP oil spill and the effects on the Louisiana landscape. By centring the story around the Pearce family and their oyster farming business we get a first hand look at how livelihoods and politics alter with these mass changes in ecosystems.

The characters are complex and richly developed and I had such a strong sense of who they were, I rooted for them all and well I wanted a happy ending and I got it with a bit of bitter sweetness of the reality of it all and appreciated how honest it was.

Thank you NetGalley and Zibby books all opinions are my own I look forward to posting more about this book closer to publication.

Pearce Oysters
By: Joselyn Takacs
Publisher: Zibby Books
Pages: 384
Pub Date: June 25, 2024

4🦪🦪🦪🦪

Pearce Oysters has been working for 3 generations and when 2010 BP Oil spill happens their livelihood is threatened. Jordan Pearce takes over as her father dies.
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Golden Vale, Louisiana people make their living in the fishing industry and the petroleum industry, so you can imagine the devastation these families will not only suffer a financial loss but a health scare.
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With Deepwater Horizon’s oil rig explorers it’s one one of the worst disasters.
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This book explores the environmental concerns, health worries and family relationships along with their communities repercussions. This area was also recovering from hurricane Katrina.

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Pearce Oysters is a story with relatable and engaging characters seeking deep connections during life-changing events with the backdrop of serious environmental and societal issues that affect the characters directly.

The characters span from the family-owned oyster business, Pearce Oysters, to the members of the family, to nature itself including the oysters and the Gulf where they grow and are harvested. The catastrophe that is the setting for the book, making the oil spill and the business of oil extraction important characters in this very human story of loss and survival.

The brothers and their mother lonely and isolated after the loss of the family patriarch are adrift, seeking meaningful connections to hang onto. This story of coping through loss and tragedy, of taking the risk to connect with others, is heart-wrenching yet heart-warming, and well worth the read.

The layers of the environmental disaster, the oil spill, the power of the oil industry in Louisiana, and shifting societal norms opens much room for thought, reflection, and the impact of our actions, large and small.

This is a very well told story about the devastating impact that the 2010 BP oil spill had on the oyster industry and its farmers. Takacs gives us Benny, Jordan and May - two brothers and their mother - what is left of the once vibrant and successful Pearce Oyster family business. All three struggle with their own regrets, disappointments, and setbacks, against the backdrop of the dissolution of their family business through no fault of their own. Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for the opportunity to read this book and provide a review in advance of its publication.

I’m a big fan of the books that Zibby Owens has been releasing each month. Pearce Oysetrs is no exception. It was well researched and the story mixed well with the history of the land and people and devastation from the oil spill. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Pearce Oysters - in the middle of the BP Oil spill brothers Jordan and Benny are at odds at how to proceed. Although that's nothing new. Until last week Jordan hadn't seen his brother in Golden Vale, LA in a long time. Although he's partner in the business that their father left them who continues to receive a paycheck even when times are tight. Their mother, May still struggles with the loss of her husband Al, while accepting her 50's are unlike the earlier days. When Benny arrives home with Kiki, the family, the business and the future are all in question. Fantastic family dynamics amid a national disaster impacting businesses, families and the coastal sea life for years to come.

Not your typical portrait of a family. Rather, this is a family whose very existence is rocked, then slowly unravels in the midst of a manmade crisis as their 100-year-old business set in a coastal Louisiana town, where you can practically feel the heat and humidity, is faced with its undoing and they have some difficult decisions to make. Tragedy and trauma converge, permeating a family, barely hanging on to their business and each other, in this emotional and enlightening story.

At times, I felt like I was reading non-fiction, as this searing tale takes us deep into Golden Vale struck hard by the 2010 British Petroleum oil leek into the Gulf of Mexico wreaking one of the worst environmental disasters, harming the fishing industry and public safety. The Pearce family, dominant oyster farmers, ha- fallen on hard times, now led by Jordan, who took over when their patriarch died suddenly, barely keeping things afloat. His brother Benny was never interested in the business, he’s a struggling musician living in New Orleans, not visiting home as often as their widowed, distraught mother May would like. Nature, once bountiful and now damaged, is both a setting and a character, everyone around her is forced to adjust in varying ways. Even if the Pearces can’t agree about oyster farming, they share common romantic challenges.

A thought-provoking story you can’t easily turn away from with sensitive characters each harboring their own troubles, wondering if they can come together during a crisis. You can’t help but feel angry, angst, and sadness for how the Pearces as well as many others who work as paid laborers beholden to the industry are let down and disregarded by big oil, their existence, which they have given to the bounty of the water, now diminished. PEARCE OYSTERS tackles relevant issues including climate action, migrant workers, healthcare, among others. It is a cautionary eco-tale that speaks to fear for the future and the helplessness to prevent the dangers coming for our climate. It is the fictional Pearce family that allows us to pause, to think about real people behind actual environmental tragedies, that give us hope, perhaps increases our sense of wonder about the natural world and inspires us to take action.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.