Those Are Pearls by André Narbonne

Those Are Pearls

by André Narbonne

Rating: 4 star rating

I really appreciated how Those Are Pearls by André Narbonne takes a century of history and anchors it to the messy reality of one family. The saga begins with Harry Short, a poor boilermaker who goes off to fight in the Boer War in 1895 just to prove himself to a wealthy doctor's daughter named Margaret Roll. What I though was hilarious, was the irony of his choices, because nearly twenty years later when World War I breaks out, Harry enlists all over again, only this time it is specifically to get away from her. 

From that volatile, complicated foundation, the book follows their descendants through decades of survival and rebellion, navigating everything from prairie homesteading to the chaos of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, and even a terrifying wartime torpedo attack at sea.

While I genuinely enjoyed the story and found the characters to be intensely human, it became a bit frustrating. The story constantly bounces back and forth across three different generations and three distinct time frames. This frequent jumping around made it difficult to maintain a steady momentum, and I felt it disrupted the flow of the family saga.  

Personally, I would have liked a double timeline much better, as tracking just two alternating eras would have provided a cleaner focus without so much bouncing around.

Without giving away how everyone's story wraps up, the ending does bring a sense of closure to the multi-generational timeline. It leaves you reflecting on how a single person's choice at the turn of the century can quietly dictate the lives of people a hundred years later. 

It is a mature, grounded piece of historical fiction, and despite my issues with the pacing, it is a story that stays with you long after you finish it.  

I would not consider it a clean book, and if you dont mind the triple timeline, it has a good storyline.

Thank you, NetGalley, Literary Press Group of Canada, and the author, André Narbonne, for the free book review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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