THE PEARLS

Book ID/图书代码： 12691011B45090

English Summary/英文概要： The Pearls is a contemporary/historical novel along the lines of ‘Birdsong’ and ‘The Island’. Loosely based on stories from the author’s own family, it depicts life in Britain and Malaya from the turn of the century, through to the present day, taking in iconic images of wartime ballgowns made of barrage balloons; post-war husbands, reluctant to let their wives work; decimilisation; and 21st century infidelity.

The novel flits between the life of Caroline (a contemporary artist/mother and wife of an editor) and her previous maternal forebears over the previous three generations, all of whom are talented artists in their own way.

There is Louisa, Caroline’s great grandmother who first inherits the pearls but is then traumatised by the birth of her first child, Rose at the end of the nineteenth century.

As a young woman, Rose, Caroline’s grandmother is whisked off her feet by a handsome English rubber planter and then taken to Borneo, the land of the White Raj, at the beginning of the twentieth century before returning to post-war Britain and dying young, leaving four children including Helen, her only daughter.

Helen, Caroline’s mother, finds her feet at boarding school and then as a nurse at Kings College Hospital during the 1950s only to fall pregnant. She then ‘has’ to get married and goes to live with her mother in law in the pebble-dashed suburbia of the 1950s before finally finding her own independence.

In between each of these sections, we learn about Caroline, Helen’s daughter, who has a career of her own as an established card illustrator and busy mother. Out of the blue, she discovers her newspaper editor husband is having an affair and has to decide whether to give him another chance.

Each of these generations inherits a beautiful set of pearls which turn out to be cursed until Caroline finally breaks the spell and finds true love in a way that her ancestors were unable to do.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 本书纯朴自然，故事来源于作者家族在世纪之交于英国和马来西亚的真实生活，用幽默的文字和形象展示了那时的风土人情。

小说告诉我们卡罗琳娜（Caroline）出生艺术世家，那串珍珠就是她曾祖母的先人传下来的，但是在曾祖母的第一个孩子也就是卡罗琳娜的祖母罗丝（Rose）生下来的时候，她精神受到创伤。后来罗丝跟男人跑到了外地最后还客死异乡，留下三儿一女。

这个女儿就是卡罗琳娜的母亲海伦（Helen），她在寄宿制学校学习，后来成了护士。20世纪50年代，她奉子成婚，随后搬去和母亲同住。

在此，我们得知，海伦的女儿卡罗琳娜自己创业，是个颇有名望的卡片插画家，也是位辛苦的母亲。但是，令她没想到的是，她那当报纸编辑的丈夫居然在外面偷腥。她很苦恼，不知道该不该给他个机会。

她们每一代都传到了一串美丽的珍珠，却都受到了诅咒。只有卡罗琳娜例外，打破魔咒，并且找到了真爱。(兼职翻译-XJJ)

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About the Author/作者介绍：

Format:电子手稿

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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