“Everything starts from that. And life comes just behind. It follows the imagination with fierce loyalty.”

This book is incredibly hard to quantify.

The Book of Pearl is an English translation of the famous French novel by Timothée de Fombelle and translated by Sarah Ardizzone. Time and plot are extraordinarily fluid and weave a rather sticky web in this book, so I’ll try break it down into the simplest terms possible. It is essentially about a love story between a young boy Ilian and a young fairy Olia, who find themselves separated through time, worlds, and memories. That is such a basic explanation that I don’t think it does the book justice at all. It is also a story of war, loss, and memory.

It was because of the tenderness of certain moments in our world that he would have to remind himself, for the rest of his life, that in order to preserve his desire to return to the Kingdoms, he had to keep his grief alive.
The book shifts perspective multiple times between first-person and third – sometimes within one page – as it shifts between different characters. The timeline of this book spans a fairytale world, WWII, the 80’s/90’s, and our current times. Whilst this is very cleverly done, it is extremely complicated.

There is no implicit instruction, no user’s guide, provided within the text and – as such – it is very easy to become lost. I have to say that this book was a serious struggle for me to get through. I usually can polish off a book in a day, but when a book bores me it often takes multiple days. This book just could not hook me. I had to actively force myself to continue reading it, until I decided a few hours ago to light a candle, play some music and just get. through. this. book. It wasn’t until about 60% in that it stopped being a struggle, and I began to actually enjoy it. At that point I began to read exponentially quicker, eager to get to the end of the story, and giving the book more allowance. A note I have about my copy, but there were formatting issues with the ARC which may have added to my own disconnect.

The writing in this book is stunningly beautiful. It is lyrical and magical, and crafts such beautiful and precious moments. Ardizzone did a brilliant job in translating the original French, as she has – I assume – captured the original magic of de Fombelle’s wordcraft.

It is a book of serious literary merit

However, this is part of how I can be an awful reader. Books that are very cleverly done, with brilliant prose, utter classics, blah blah… If they don’t connect with me, or are too ‘heavy’ (not sure how to describe it), I will seriously struggle to read and enjoy them. When I say heavy, I don't mean dealing with serious subject matter, or length, as I'm fine with both of those. It's just a concept I'm having difficulty articulating. I have an English Literature major and I still – a lot of the time – abhor reading ‘proper’ literary texts. This is my own personal rant, but just because something is a classic, or has academics falling over it, doesn’t mean it’s good. Again, this is entirely subjective. For me, books that often have lyrical storycraft/purple prose/etc often don’t have as great an impact as they do others.

However, The Book of Pearl is a good book. It seriously redeemed itself. I definitely felt like I received a reward by the end for all the hard work getting to it. The final few pages really turned my mind and solidified this book as a unique and fascinating creation.

…he had always sensed there was a piece missing from the mechanism of these tales. Finally he understood the secret hiding behind all these stories, the mysterious cog that brought them springing to life; that turned ducks into swans and caused jealousy and duels; that drove queens to despair, flung armies into battle, or inspired the adventures of a valiant little tailor; that caused a king’s madness.

All in all, this book pulled off something pretty marvellous. In the space of 2 hours, it went from me lamenting having to pick it up again to rapidly consuming it. I had been considering it to be a 2 star book, but it utterly changed my mind. I am going with 3 however, because – although it is objectively masterful – I simply didn’t find much connection to it. Like this above quote, it had all the pieces and magic of a fairytale, but I simply didn’t feel the love within this tale. I was aware of it logically, but wasn’t stirred by it. To me there was an overwhelming sense of sadness and nostalgia. I was not emotionally struck by this book. In admiration, certainly, but not emotional.

The big issue I think is that there is a filter between the audience and the story in the other narration that comes through the book. It comes from a character within the story – who, in the beginning of the book, really makes everything a hell of a lot more confusing. For reasons that will become clear in the final chapter or so, this is necessary but frustrating.

This book reads exactly like a fairytale feels. Less of a book, to love and to get lost in, but something you are hearing as a parable or fable. Superficial, but with simultaneously deep roots and connections you’re only aware of in retrospect.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review! ♥

Sarah Ardizzone and Sam Gordon translated The Book of Pearl from its original French. It’s a beautiful, layered book that moves at a languid pace. It’s one you really have to stick with, as there’s no real driving force. However, if you stick with it, you’re rewarded with an imaginative read unlike anything you’ve likely read before.

The Book of Pearl alternates between time periods and worlds, which make for a compelling but slightly confusing first couple of chapters. Further in, elements begin to make more sense, but mystery remains. The highlight of The Book of Pearl came for me in the final few chapters where events unfold in unexpected and lyrical ways.

The Book of Pearl is part romance, part mystery and part adventure that bends reality and asks you to imagine what if…

Joshua Pearl doesn’t belong in this world. He comes from the world of story, of fairy tales, where he no one knows he exists—and they certainly don’t know he’s the younger brother of their cruel and brutal king. His love keeps him alive, but he’s cursed to live in a world that doesn’t believe in magic. This world.

In Paris just before World War II, Joshua lives and works in a marshmallow shop beloved by many. He’s found a family. He has a home and a job he adores, but something is missing. As his memories of his life before start to fade, Joshua searches for objects of mystery—starting with a mermaid’s scale—that might help him prove his own story, before his memories are lost forever.

Sometimes, I’m not terribly observant when I’m picking out books. Like picking up the third book in a series, having no idea it’s part of a series. In this case, I didn’t realize The Book of Pearl was a translation. Not that that matters in the least. I found this book magical and ethereal in places, but realistic and gritty in others. The fairy tale world is not the Disney version—all sunshine and light—but much more Grimm’s brothers. The settings came alive on the page, and if the characters were a little more distant than I would have wished, this could be just a difference in style between French and English. Regardless, this was a wonderful, enchanting read.

(Galley provided by Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review.)

A girl steals through the woods, desperate to find the boy she's given up her life as a fairy to be with. A boy steals through the woods, desperate to find a girl he only glimpsed from afar. During the escalating turmoil of World War II, another boy finds a home, briefly, with a Paris confectioner and his wife. This is a story of a banished prince and a wicked king. The story of love that conquers all and a treasure hunt for magical objects.

Timothée de Fombelle's The Book of Pearl is charming and magical in the way of all the best fairy tales. It makes me somewhat regret that I cannot read it in the original French; I wonder how much wonder Sarah Ardizzone had to leave behind in the translation. This is a book for a rainy afternoon with a warm cup of tea.

The characters are drawn sparingly. While the story succeeds in charming the reader, and avoids becoming saccharine. Reading it reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Stardust in the way it felt like a story written in a different time.

If I were to caution a reader about anything, it would be that the tale is achingly slow to get started, and the stakes never truly drive the story. De Fombelle begins four separate narrative threads which are only tied together about one-third of the way through the story. (Cleverer readers might see the connection faster.) For that reason, the book languished in my To Be Read pile for several months. Once I had a better grasp on how it was connected, I finished it in an afternoon.

I was given a complimentary copy of The Book of Pearl via Netgalley in exchange for this review.

I was not a fan. I felt as if the translation from french could have been a bit smoother

A young man gets sent to the world of ordinary humans, doomed to spend the rest of his life away from his one true love. He does everything he can to go home, but the enemy that chased him away wants him dead. Translators Sarah Ardizzone and Sam Gordon do their best to interpret French author Timothee de Fombelle’s book, The Book of Pearl, but ultimately can’t fill in the blanks of a loose story.

A boy runs—almost literally—into Joshua Pearl, a stranger and loner, in the middle of the woods. The boy wants to escape his own challenges, but when he meets Joshua he reevaluates his life. There’s something about this elderly gentleman that keeps the boy in the woods with him.

Despite his skepticism, Joshua develops a friendship with the boy and reveals his story. Joshua is not, in fact, Joshua Pearl. His true name is Ilian, and he is the younger prince of his land in a place far removed from this world. Ilian’s older brother, jealous and greedy about ruling after the death of their father, banishes Ilian to the land of ordinary humans.

Ilian then tells his new young friend about Olia, a fairy charged with protecting Ilian in their home country. Ilian and Olia met when the two were young, and through the years developed first a friendship and then a love that seals them to one another. Ilian’s brother knows about Olia, if not exactly the nature of Ilian’s relationship to her, and manages to sideline Olia long enough to send Ilian away.

Ilian arrives in the middle of one of history’s greatest tragedies: the Second World War. He finds himself on a street in Paris where a kind couple takes him in, and he becomes the son they lost years earlier in a tragedy. When the war demands the couple’s son as a soldier, Ilian takes the son’s name and rechristens himself Joshua.

Slowly he learns the ways of this world but is convinced that if he can collect enough artifacts with the sense of magic, they will transport him back to his home. Unknown to Ilian, Olia has found a way to the world of humans and has begun searching for him. Right on her heels, however, is a contingent sent by Ilian’s brother to eliminate him for good.

Author Timothee de Fombelle builds a story with beautiful descriptions. The care taken by translators Sarah Ardizzone and Sam Gordon is evident in the lushness of the English version of the story. If the language is this rich in a translated version, readers will probably wish they could experience the book’s true depth in the original French.

The plot itself has its own share of problems, however. The protagonist recounting Ilian and Olia’s tale remains unnamed, which keeps considerable distance between the readers and him. Because the focus of the book is, in fact, Ilian and Olia and Ilian’s new life as Joshua, readers get little information about the narrator. They may end up wondering why he’s necessary.

Also, Fombelle tries to unfold several ideas at roughly the same time—the narrator’s own angst in life; Ilian’s birth and his brother’s vengeance; Olia’s charge as Ilian’s protector; Ilian’s arrival in Paris; his transformation into Joshua Pearl; Pearl’s mystique and pursuance of artifacts. Unlike other books that have reveled in a multi-story plot—Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus comes immediately to mind—here the various plot points don’t coalesce to create one single pool of shimmering fairy tale magic. It certainly tries but doesn’t quite get there.

Equally frustrating is the way Fombelle tries to duck the need for some necessary story devices. The book moves forward confidently in some parts and in others relies too much on the fact that readers will accept major action because the characters state it. Late in the book, the narrator pops up as an afterthought to take the story to its climax. It’s almost as if Ilian and Olia had to wait for the narrator to arrive before moving forward.

Readers who enjoy the language typically employed in fairy tale stories will appreciate The Book of Pearl. Others may find the multi-plot system and the unnamed narrator too much of a distraction. I recommend readers Borrow The Book of Pearl.

3.5 Stars

The Book of Pearl is an intricate story of worlds within worlds by French playwright and prize-winning author Timothée de Fombelle, author of Toby Alone and Toby and the Secrets of the Tree. By intricate, I am not kidding. Three interwoven storylines exist- that of Joshua Pearl, an exiled man who appears suddenly in our world and is taken in by marshmallow confectioners; Prince Ilian, a man who only wanted to be free to love a fairy named Olia; and a fourteen-year-old boy who narrates the story in a bookended fashion. With the shifting perspectives from the first person to third person narratives, the book can become confusing to settle into at the beginning and a bit disorienting when the first person narrator reappears.

De Fombelle's lush prose seems to have been translated with sensitivity to the flow of language, though some of the spelling/typeset variations in my ARC copy left me puzzled for pronunciation of translations from what would be presumed to be French names (use of the Nordic language å, pronounced similar to ō, for instance, in the names Oliå and Iliån). Nevertheless, it is easy to get lost in de Fombelle's truly dreamy writing. I can dream of blackberry marshmallows or fairies who give up their wings only to find their loves for whom this sacrifice was given missing, lost, exiled, or of lost princes who forget themselves, but not their loves, and who dream of returning to their true love and finding that love unchanged. There are some beautiful ideas here but like a dream, there is not always clarity in the narrative structure. That made reading the book somewhat frustrating at times for me. Who are we? Where are we? Why are we here? I've learned to be cautious when dealing with books that have been translated into English, as there are both linguistic and cultural issues that may be lost on the English reader. At least getting lost in the world of Pearl finds the reader exploring a beautiful place.

This was a FANTASTIC read that is perfect for historical romance and fairy tale lovers! I fell in love with the prose and LOVED all the characters! This book was so awesome and went through a world within a world. I would highly recommend this book to any reader looking for something that will touch their heart.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate this opportunity and all views expressed are my own.

A beautiful story but the switching of POVs and timelines was pretty confusing. I was able to follow, but felt this was aimed at a younger audience who would likely have trouble with it.

This book was fantastic!
I loved the story behind it, the characters were so well done. Can't wait to read more by this author

First and foremost, I would never has guessed this book was a translation! The writing is exceptional. Having read translated books before, this is above and beyond the usual expectations.

This is a fairy tale within a fairy tale, told over the span of two worlds, half a century apart. It's a wonderful story. Our world exists side by side with hundreds of other worlds and times where Happy Ever After has already come to pass. Other worlds are still awaiting happy ever after, and others are at war. Joshua Pearl is banished from a Kingdom in turmoil by a jealous king, separated from his beloved, and sent to our world on the eve of World War II. Unbeknownst to him, their love transcends worlds and ages. From a Paris marshmallow shop, to a German prison camp, to a forest dark and deep, this is their story.

A wonderful read for fans of historical fiction, fairy tales, and for anyone who believes in the power of love.

Iain showed up on a rainy Paris evening in front of the Maison Pearl. After the Pearl family brought him in, they raised him as their own and he took on the name Joshua Pearl. Even after serving in the military during World War II and taking on the family business, he can't shake the pull to the world he came from. A world of kingdoms, fairies, genies and curses. He also can't shake the dark shadow following him everywhere he goes. 

I was really drawn to this book by the cover. It's so simple but also intriguing. It reminds me of a beautiful fairy tale book cover that you see opening at the start of every Disney movie. I was also interested by the story of the boy from the fairy tale world thrown into the pre-WW2 France. This book turned out much different than I expected but was still a beautiful and fun read. 

You must be a patient reader to finish this novel, but it's worth the work. This book has been translated from french, so the pattern of the sentences a little bit hard to adjust to. I found about a quarter of the way through the novel I didn't struggle anymore and really enjoy the beauty of the language. Additionally, the story is broken up into three story lines: that of the narrator, of Iain and of Joshua Pearl. At first the three story lines seem completely unrelated, but trust in the author and you'll enjoy the mystery of the plot.

There are only three main character in this novel and the author does a great job of creating a full and diverse supporting cast. While the narrator isn't incredibly descriptive, he does a great job of really showing the character's personality through their actions. There's little to no exposition, which is pretty impressive for a fairly tale inspired novel. Even characters as small as Joshua/Iain's fellow soldiers are painted so emotionally that it's painful to say goodbye to them later on in the story. 

The main characters: the unnamed narrator, Olia and Iian, on the other hand, are shrouded in a bit of mystery compared to the side characters. In fact, there's a lot of mystery in this story. It's mysterious who the narrator actually is. It's mysterious how the individual plots are related. It's mysterious how the conflict is eventually resolved. The prose in this story is absolutely beautiful, mostly descriptive and metaphorical but also somewhat vague.  The author could have done with some more concrete description and a confirmed conclusion, whether satisfying or not. 

The Book of Pearl by Timothee de Fombelle is a translated French fairy tale revision. It features a large and exciting cast that the readers truly connect to. The prose in the story is beautifully written, although sometimes confusing. While the translation is not bad, any translated novel is going to take some adjustment. However, if you have the patience to take you time and read The Book of Pearl with intention and focus, you'll be grateful for sticking through to the eventual product.

The Book of Pearl seems to have a great plot but its unfortunate that I was quite lost throughout and took a while to catch on. The book switched Point-of-Views and I’m pretty sure the names of one of the narrators wasn’t even mentioned. There was a lot of switching between timelines too, which was honestly really very confusing for me which is sad because it had all the makings of a great book. The mentions of a magical world, a marshmallow shop and fairies were very intriguing and I would have really loved it if I could've caught on to the story but the writing took far too long for me to get used to

A fairy falls in love with a king’s son doomed to die by the hand of his older brother in the land of stories. A troll sends him to the land of humans in banishment rather than kill him, allowing the fairy to follow with the caveat of never contacting him. She watches him age as she maintains the appearance of a teenager. He spends his entire human life trying to return to the land of stories. The fairy monitors his transition to the son of a kindly couple who own a marshmallow shop in order to enter the military. In his old age, he is encountered by a young boy who meets him again as a young man when he is fighting again for his life. The fairy elicits the young man to record their tale for proof.

The outsider witness is rarely, if ever, done well, and is a bit distracting from this complex and heartwrenching love story. The ending is left open for the reader to speculate a reunion.

I was fortunate to receive a digital ARC through NetGally of this complicated fairytale.

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The Book of Pearl is a fairy tale that finds itself bleeding into the human world.
When a teen boy finds a mysterious house in the woods, the life of Joshua Pearl finally comes to light. Hidden within the house are suitcases full of junk which revel themselves to be of another world. Understanding the truth behind these treasures takes patience and time but reveals a world of wonder and magic. The author creates a beautiful world that contrasts sharply with an Earth that is at war. The author balances urgency in both worlds encouraging the reader to be invested in both the magical realm and our own. The only issue is that I felt the structure jumped around too much. Bouncing between at least four different time periods, and several perspectives, The Book of Pearl at times seems a little convoluted where it could have flowed much better.
Intriguing and beautiful, The Book of Pearl shows that fairy tales are alive and well.

There was such lovely, lyrical writing in so much of this one - it read the way French sounds to my ear - that I wanted to like it and get lost in it... But instead I just got lost.

The opening was strong and engaging, and I loved the tale of Joshua Pearl's rescue of the boy/girl (I was never quite clear at the time and if I read ) and the mystery of the suitcases - and then the narration and story shifted into backstory (or at least, I presume backstory) and I got TOTALLY LOST. There's a marshmallow shop that sounds amazing, a tale with genies, a death and family tragedy (on so many levels), some evil, and lots and lots of confusion - and that's when I had to give up.

This felt like a jumble to me. I don't know if it's the translation (imagine for a moment" if I thought the language was beautifully constructed in the translation, what must the original read like??) or if I'm not Gallic enough to understand some elements of what this was trying to be, but as an American reader of this version, I was just lost. It's a shame, because I found the (presumably) main Pearl story very intriguing and wanted to know more, but I was floundering around and just felt like every page was a slog trying to get back to where I wanted to be...

I had a hard time getting into this book, and I kept getting lost while reading it. It's the first novel that I've read in a while that has been so long, which is quite enjoyable. I love to be able to commit to longer books, because it sometimes means we get to be with the characters for longer. With The Book of Pearl, we see fairy tale elements spun in a very creative way, and one of the most memorable things about this book is the way that Mr. Fombelle describes the Marshmallow shop. Fombelle is great at setting scenes, though it often feels as though we're being told the story, rather than finding ourselves immersed in it. As it was translated from French, the English translation loses parts that would make sense if they'd been in their original language. I would definitely give this another go in the French version, as I have taken several years of it, including a French literature class. Aside from this I really enjoyed the romance, although not everyone might...there's a specific character that is mean spirited who just doesn't seem deserving of romance to me...but such is life. The ending did feel like it was quick, but overall, I would definitely say that it was worth my time to read. I don't think teens would necessarily love it, but I would wager that new adults who enjoy fairy tale-esque stories would really love it.

Absolutely beautiful! Luscious, poignant narrative resonating with magic; each word alive on a journey describing, with grace, the tenacious power of love. The kind that transcends worlds, time and all the human humblings in between. It was mysterious, haunting, powerful, heartbreaking... sometimes all at the same time. The characters were all wonderful, extraordinary, passionate people, and the suffusion of magical elements across kingdoms was eloquently well done. It felt as though it could be real. This whole story felt like it could be real. The Book of Pearl is marvelous in every way! I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic work by the wonderfully talented Timothee de Fombelle.

I’m sorry to say, I did not get past the second chapter of this confusing, muddled story. The description intrigued me, but the two opening chapters were so unconnected and rambling that I could not connect. Sorry...

The summary of this book talks a lot about Joshua Pearl and the world he's from. I think if the book had focused on that it would have been more successful. I wasn't a fan of a number of the stylistic choices in this book, I think the way the book jumped around the story and then jumped narrators without much warning or history was offputting. I found the story of Joshua Pearl fairly interesting, and I enjoyed the way the curse affected him and Olia separately. However, I felt the switch in point of view to a random French child, and then the same man when grown to be disconcerting and frankly fairly boring. As a translation from French there are a lot of intricacies of this book that could have been lost being translated to English, but I thought the focus of the book should have been elsewhere.