I've had The Women of Pearl Island on my shelf for over 2 years and now that I've read it, I regret waiting so long. This is a different read, an ending I couldn't possibly have seen coming. A story that is a time slip, taking place in two time periods, 2018 and 1955. Set on a secluded island off the British coast, there are secrets, lots of secrets. You really feel locked in while reading this as it's so hard to put down. A young woman is hired as a personal assistant to an elderly woman who's lived on this secluded island all of her life. There were family members at one time, now she lives with memories of the past and butterflies.
As we slide back and forth in the time periods the book takes on a surreal and mystical quality during the old lady's musings when the past comes to life. The atmosphere changes as the book progresses but there is a foreboding feeling hovering over the book. The cover will fool you into thinking the book is one way, but the inside is different than you could imagine.
The author is very talented, and the presentation is excellent. You can vividly imagine the two time periods. A compelling read that will have more searching for more by this author.

Pub Date 07 Dec 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Title: "The Women of Pearl Island" by Polly Crosby - An Enchanting Tale of Family and Secrets

Rating: ★★★★☆

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of "The Women of Pearl Island" by Polly Crosby, and it was a truly enchanting and evocative novel. Crosby's lyrical storytelling transports readers to the mystical and remote Pearl Island, a place steeped in family secrets and generations-old mysteries.

The novel follows three women from different eras: Cecily, a young woman navigating life in the 1800s, Lins, a mother grappling with tragedy in the 1980s, and Tilly, a woman in the present day who returns to Pearl Island to confront her past. The narrative seamlessly weaves together their stories, unraveling the enigmatic history of the island. Crosby's vivid descriptions and keen understanding of her characters' inner lives make for a rich and immersive reading experience. The novel is a testament to the enduring power of family bonds and the resilience of the women who call Pearl Island home. While the pacing can be a bit slow at times, the book's poetic prose and intricate exploration of relationships and secrets more than compensate for it. "The Women of Pearl Island" is a captivating and beautifully written story that will leave a lasting impression on those who appreciate literary fiction with a touch of magic.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to delve into this advanced reader copy. "The Women of Pearl Island" is a remarkable and atmospheric tale that invites readers to lose themselves in its captivating world and the intricate lives of its unforgettable characters.

Strange. Beautiful. Moody. Slow to start. A panoply of differences - webbed hands, a scale-like cheek, a wheelchair, Asperger's. An odd climax and conclusion. A young woman who finds peace after grief. An elderly one who struggles with a lifetime of guilt. Not sure what the point of it all is, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Really well written novel for fans of Kate Morton. Secrets and nature were the theme and I loved the multiple points of view. It was a race to the finish!

The Women of Pearl Island follows the story of two women, one in her prime and the other elderly, who don’t know that they need each other to heal from their past and sorrows. Tartelin takes a job as a personal assistant to Mariane, a woman who lives on an isolated island that has been in her family for generations. Tartelin is hurting from the loss of her mother, and she’s desperate to get away from her suffocating grieving. But she doesn’t expect to find herself on an island with no electricity or phone service, helping this eccentric woman further her studies into the butterflies and moths that live on the island.

Marianne is wheelchair bound and lives a very regimented life. She’s only recently returned to her family’s estate after being away for 60 years after the military commandeered the island during World War II. As Tartelin tries to navigate the crumbling island and it’s structures, she also has to learn how to tip toe around Marianne’s unwillingness to warm up to her or share her tragic past.

But Tartelin slowly pieces together Marianne’s tragic family history in the earlier twentieth century, and we get to experience this firsthand through Marianne point of view chapters set in the past. We hear Tartelin’s story through her own point of view chapters set in 2018.

I give The Women of Pearl Island a 4.5 out of 5. The writing was fantastic, and the island was a character all of its own with how much it changed, provided for the family, and ultimately betrayed them as well. Tartelin and Marianne were sympathetic characters, each with a tragic past. Tartelin is trying to actively overcome her grief from losing her mother, while Marianne is still wallowing in events that happened over fifty years ago and hiding behind the walls she’s built up. There are several twists in both of their stories that were surprising, and I mainly just loved how Marianne’s story was revealed throughout the book. There’s a lot of grief and sadness in here, but Tartelin brings some much needed hopefulness and light to Marianne’s life, even as she’s coming to terms with her own losses. The few side characters that are present on the island were decently developed, but the main focus was definitely on Marianne and Tartelin–and I really enjoyed their journey.

While the writing is beautiful, I just could not get into this book. I was enchanted with the descriptions of the island landscape and the wildlife there, but I could not connect to the characters Marianne and Tartelin.

What a haunting, timeless and yet very modern tale. Tartelin is hired to help capture and catalog butterflies on a tiny island off the English coast. She quickly discovers that the island's history -- and its status of being only very recently reopened to the public -- is far more mysterious than its biology. Her feelings of both joy and fear at being disconnected from the world resonated with me.

The Women of Peral Island is a gorgeous book with such extraordinary descriptions of the island that you will feel transported.

Historical fiction is not a genre I have a lot of experience reading, but this story swept me up and kept me intrigued. I did love the two timelines and perhaps the modern timeline helped to make the past timeline not seem as dry, which is how I normally feel about historical fiction.

Rich characters bring this story to life, and as the past and present collide, secrets, past sins, and regrets all come together to an epic conclusion.

Beautiful piece of literature!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Beautifully written with well developed characters whom I came to really care about. The story jumps back to early times and the present. There is lots of death and sadness that has stayed with me which I guess says a lot for the author's ability. I cannot reduce my rating because the book depressed me but I would want against reading if you are looking to be cheered up.

THE WOMEN OF PEARL ISLAND is the story of three women who couldn’t be more different from each other. Marianne is a recluse, in a wheel chair, and is very set in her ways. Nan is a young woman from her past, that is definitely affecting her present. Tartelin is hired to hunt for butterflies for her research and assist her with personal needs. She is drawn to the island and the water. The story is set on Dohhalund, a remote island off the British Coast and has been owned by Marianne's family for generations. She lived on the island for years and only recently returned after the British Government decommissioned it after commandeering it during WWII. Marianne has secrets and memories that keep her going, but what is she doing with the butterflies Tartelin catches and why?

This is a beautifully written, lyrical story. Tartelin's discovery of the island was interesting and intriguing. There were a few other people on the island that helped with that discover, as well as adding to the gothic atmosphere. The older woman who lived in a small hut was very interesting and had my curiosity going, the young man, Jacob, adds companionship as well as teaching her about the island, especially some of the dangers. The relationship between Tartelin and Marianne is complicated. They are employee and employer, but there is also a closeness that develops living in the same house, working together and being alone. Gradually Marianne opens up and begins to share some of her memories and secrets. The story is told in two timelines, with the past being told by Marianne. We learn about silkworms and silk, the herring industry and pearls all wrapped up in a wonderful story. There is a lot happening in this story, but Polly Crosby does a wonderful job of weaving all the pieces together. As the secrets are revealed, I found myself smiling and weepy at the same time. This is a story to experience and I recommend it to those who enjoy a beautifully written book with family, secrets, self-discovery and forgiveness.

If you are looking for a page-turner, you’ll want to pass on this beautiful, atmospheric novel. The plot builds steadily and gives lots of surprises, but it is the land and seascapes that make this novel a must-read.

Tartelin Brown is having trouble moving past the death of her mother. She needs to get away from London and accepts a position as a personal assistant to an elderly woman in a wheelchair on an island off the British coast.

The island is owned by the Stourbridge family. The elderly woman who calls it home is the last of her lineage. Miss Marianne was raised on Dohhalund (name of the island). Her family made their money from the herring trade and the pearls that are farmed off the island’s rugged coastline. It is a primitive place to live---no cell service, no electricity, and no phones.

Tartelin’s main job is to collect a variety of butterflies so that Marianne can study them. Something happened on the island during World War II. Something that involved the nuclear testing done there, but no records have survived. Marianne is sure she can find answers in the butterflies that she has been collecting since 1955.

The book has two timelines: 1955 and 2018. In 1955, a young girl comes to live with the family. Marianne distrusts her as she seems to steal all of Dad’s attention. But there is a bigger secret that Marianne uncovers. In 2018, as Tartelin roams the island in search of butterflies, she meets many people who help her discover the secrets.

I enjoyed the scenery a lot, but the plotline was a tad slow for me. The book’s title was a mystery until near the story’s end when the island is referred to as Pearl Island. If that sentence had been deleted, the reader would never get it. Or at least this reader wouldn’t. Therefore, I’m going to give “The Women of Pearl Island,” 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

It isn't every day that I sit down and decide to read a historical fiction novel (though I seem to have read more in 2021 than in any other year...), so I like to make it an occasion when I do. The Women of Pearl Island, by Polly Crosby, is a beautiful novel designed to tug at our hearts. And that is exactly what I was looking for.

Marianne lives on a remote island off the British coast – and she is in need of a personal assistant. Enter Tartelin; she's taken the job posting, even though she doesn't quite know what she's getting into.

Now Marianne must decide how much of her family's story to tell Tartelin and how much to keep to herself. Yet even keeping secrets quiet won't banish them from her mind, much as she wishes they would just...flutter away.

“The darkness that stretches away from me is not threatening. It buffers me from the rest of the world.”

The Women of Pearl Island is a deeply personal, compelling, and emotional read. The way Polly Crosby portrays her characters makes them feel like real humans telling their stories. In that sense, it can be utterly heartbreaking at times – and inspiring at others.

This novel unfolds slowly, never feeling the need to rush readers to the ultimate point. I cherished the causal way the story unfolded, as even that felt comforting again like I was really listening to Marianne's tales as she began to trust me (when in truth, it is Tartelin she trusts).

Much of Marianne's history is steeped in WWII, so if this is a subject you'd rather avoid (for any reason), please do consider yourself warned. There are darker moments hidden within the soothing words, but again, that read as very human to me.

Such a strange book, very not what I thought it was going to be. Not a bad thing, just... a little strange. The people who have lived on Dohhalund include Marianne's family, stretching back generations, and a group that gathers pearls (formerly herrings). There was a silk industry started by Marianne's family, along with a silkworm watcher. Then, during World War II, the island was occupied by the Army. And something happened. All that is told from Marianne's POV as a younger girl. In the present, Tartelin has been hired to help a now-wheelchair bound Marianne, who has returned to her family home. She meets several interesting characters, including an older woman who seemingly holds the answers to the mystery surrounding the house and Marianne's past... There are several Big Hints dropped along the way that made the Big Reveals less, well, surprising. A slow, atmospheric read that will stay with readers, particularly that last scene.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

The Women of Pearl Island is difficult to categorize.
It is part family drama. Tartelin is trying to recover from the death of her mother. Marianne has memories of her family on the island. Both women form a new type of family as they learn to trust each other.
It is part mystery. What is the significance of Tartelin’s birthmark? What does Marianne remember seeing on the island? What was the British government up to? What is happening to the butterflies?
And what does everything have to do with everything else?
I know that is usually a consideration in any book – how things are connected to each other. Bur for some reason, this seems to take a bigger role in The Women of Pearl Island.
It is not a book that you can read passively or try to sneak in chapters here or there. It is one that should be enjoyed in long stretches so that you can immerse yourself in the language and style of the story.
The author is great with description. The reader feels the island surroundings as if they are there next to Tartelin.
I also was reminded of The Island of Dr. Moreau. I don’t know if it is because of the word “island” in the title, or if that was intended by the author. But an island where strange things happened, and people try to uncover the truth? The vibe is there.
I liked this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had read it the way I mentioned above. I wish I could have totally immersed myself and read it in one sitting. It was that good.
Future readers take note – you will enjoy The Women of Pearl Island much more if you can let yourself be transported.

The setting for The Women of Pearl Island is absolutely beautiful, totally fascinating, and stunning in its strange and hidden history. The secrets that the island keeps are explosive, but not nearly as explosive as those kept by Marianne Stourbridge as the story begins.

The story is set in two timelines, the primary one in 2018, as the elderly Miss Stourbridge, the owner of the crumbling island of Dohhalund hires the grieving, escaping Tartelin Brown to serve as her personal assistant, general factotum, and all around helper and housemate.

As Tartelin explores the island, both on behalf of her employer and as part of her own increasing fascination with the mysterious locale, the story slips between Tartelin and Marianne’s somewhat fractious present to Marianne’s past growing up on the island that has been passed down through her mother’s family for generations. The island that Marianne Stourbridge now owns – at least what is left of it.

There are secrets buried in Marianne’s past, lost offshore on the parts of the island that have fallen into the sea in the years since 1955. The year that all the residents of Dohhalund were evacuated from their homes by order of the British military. They claimed to be testing explosives and that it would be too dangerous for the civilian population to remain.

Not that Marianne Stourbridge ever listened to what people in authority were telling her. Not now and certainly not then.

Escape Rating B: The most compelling character in this timeslip story is Dohhalund itself, a fictitious island in the North Sea within sight of both the United Kingdom to whom it belongs and the Netherlands from which it gets much of its language – at least as related to food – and its customs.

(Dohhalund is fictitious, but its geography and ecology are based on the real Orford Ness.)

Something obviously happened in 1955 on the island, a catastrophic event that Marianne Stourbridge has returned to the island to prove. Based on her previous research, and on her requests to Tartelin, it is clear to the reader if not to Tartelin that what Marianne is searching for proof of is a secret nuclear test. The evidence is everywhere among the wildlife of the island.

That the civilian population was evicted in 1955 and the island remained interdicted under military reserve for more than 50 years is a bit of a clue.

Because the most compelling character in the story is the island itself, The Women of Pearl Island reads as more than a bit lit-ficcy. It seems like not a lot is happening, the story isn’t moving all that quickly, and not many of the characters are happy about much of anything. But it still sucks the reader in like the tide that surrounds the island.

The part of the story that Tartelin is telling in 2018 feels like the stronger – or at least the more interesting – part of the book. Tartelin is still grieving the recent death of her mother, and she’s come to the island, to this strange, ambiguous job with this secretive and cantankerous old woman in order to get away from her grief and her memories – only to find herself dropped into the mystery of Marianne’s.

But Marianne’s story of the pivotal years of her childhood is told from her perspective in 1928. Not her perspective ON 1928, but her perspective IN 1928. She was 15 at the time, cosseted, protected and privileged, and she is immature, selfish and self-absorbed. Not that we all aren’t at least some of that at 15 – and even later. But it does not make her a remotely likeable character.

Tartelin, on the other hand, as frozen within herself as she arrives, is much more sympathetic. Her journey is one of reaching out and getting past, and it’s slow and sometimes hesitant, but she is getting there and it makes her the more dynamic of the two women.

But not quite as dynamic as the island itself, and the strange, sad but ultimately magical tale of it that she discovers as part of her own journey.

The Women of Pearl Island by Polly Crosby leaves many questions unanswered. This is a book very much about the "where" and the "who" and leaves much to wonder about the what, how, and why. The overall feel of the book's sadness will linger with me a while, and I will wonder what really happened. Perhaps in leaving that question and the wish that I knew, the book finds its success.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/12/the-women-of-pearl-island.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.

First off, Polly Crosby has a beautiful writing style that can draw you in. I found that with her other book as well as this book. The island featured in the book was wonderfully crafted and felt like a real place that had depth and richness. Through the different timelines you could see shifts and changes in the island and the people on it, which was really a great thing. Also, the characters were pretty compelling and definitely made you want to find out what was going to happen to them. There were some aspects of the story that felt a little flat. There were moments where it was clear that they were crafted to elicit a response, such as emotional, but they didn't quite get there for me. I was still happy to finish the book and felt it was still solid, simply because of how well crafted the other elements of it were.

The Women of Pearl Island is almost, but not quite, creepy. Tartelin, grieving the death of her mother, accepts a position as a personal assistant to an elderly woman who lives on the remote island of Dohhalund. The island has been in Marianne Stourbridge’s family for years. Marianne grew up there, with her father profiting from the herring trade, from the pearls farmed from Dohhalund oysters, from the silkworms that Marianne learned to cultivate. But all was not sunshine and roses during Marianne’s childhood.

Marianne has hired Tartelin to be her eyes, ears, and legs on the island as she seeks proof of…something, something that happened during World War II, when all of Marianne’s family was forced by the government to leave the island. She’s very secretive about the events of her life, and Tartelin at first isn’t sure she can handle the position she’s accepted. Marianne expects her to trap butterflies for examination. The island is completely isolated – no cell service, no phone, no electricity. And she will tell Tartelin virtually nothing about what exactly she hopes to prove with her examination of so many creatures.

But as Tartelin explores her surroundings, both Dogger Bank House where she stays with Marianne and the island itself, the more she becomes engaged in it. She slowly learns to appreciate the solitude. She meets a handful of people living on the island, and in some instances this results in more questions, more secrets from the past coming to light. And as Marianne slowly, slowly opens up to Tartelin, Tartelin finds her own kind of healing and restoration.

This story is told in dual timelines, the present day and Marianne’s growing-up years leading up to World War II. I found it easy to follow the two separate storylines. The prose is lush, sometimes bordering on fantastical, and this gives the book almost a dreamlike quality. Sometimes it’s hard to separate reality from imagination. It’s a slow-moving book, but it really pulled me in to Tartelin and Marianne’s stories. I wanted to know where they were both coming from, and what was driving Marianne to stay in a house that could literally crumble into the sea.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, this isn’t going to be your cup of tea. But if you want a story that builds and that reveals its secrets in time, with characters you may alternately want to hug and shake, The Women of Pearl Island may be for you. I can honestly say it is like no other book I’ve read this year, and it was a literary treat for me.

Tartelin Brown answers an ad for a personal assistant for Marianne Stourbridge, an eccentric old woman whose only companions for years had been butterflies and memories. Marianne's family once owned the island she lives on, but it had been commandeered by the British government in World War II. Some of Marianne's painful memories involve family secrets, and she can only get past them if she can share them with Tartelin.

The novel has a slow and steady pace as we begin. Scarred and bounced around between foster families, Tartelin at first was concerned about the isolation on the island. Others on the island have their own quirks, and Marianne is something of an enigma at the start. Descriptions are lulling so that I really feel like I'm on a somewhat private island with few people and animals with strange bodily conformations. Marianne eventually reveals aspects of her past to Tartelin, just as we see snippets of her past in that story thread. At the end, we learn of Marianne's biggest secret, and understand exactly why she had to return to the island, and why she wanted to track mutations. It's a sad story, and Tartelin truly does understand it without judgment.

I can easily see this as a book club book. This is a hauntingly beautiful story, full of nuanced emotions. Sometimes disconnecting from electricity and screens can lead to discoveries about the self and the place you have in the world.

I loved the descriptions of the island and the butterflies. The women on this island were made from sturdy stock. I loved learning all the secrets that the women on this island had accumulated throughout their lives. I did find it hard to understand what was really happening at times and I really did not like the ending all that well. It seemed to leave me hanging a bit as to what the island was really like. I enjoyed most of the story and I really liked the characters. I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.