Book Club: The Last Pearl

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Author: Leah Fleming
ISBN: 978-1-4711-4135-5
RRP: $32.99

Lucky for me I picked this book up on a Saturday, and we went for a drive as a family (and I read) and then we came home and I had nothing too pressing that HAD to be done so I read for a bit, then I did dinner and then I read some more….. and missed my bedtime but finished the book. If only I could have had a similar day today… but never mind, it was productive.

Leah Fleming is an author I was unfamiliar with before The Last Pearl but she has quite the back catalogue, perhaps something I need to look into when I have some time.

The Last Pearl is set in the last quarter of the 19th Century, beginning in both York and Perthshire before an oceanic crossing to America.

Fleming weaves the stories of the wealthy beautifully with those of the poor and some of our leading characters have the opportunity to live at both ends of the scale.

Greta Costello is a happy and hardworking girl who is always thinking of her family and trying to better their situation. They haven’t always been poor but when her father died young the family fell of hard times. Greta will do all that she can to help her mother support them, and her two younger siblings, as long as she can keep her reputation. Greta works in the market on the weekends, helps her mother with laundry and helps out an older widowed jeweler with some cooking and cleaning.

Her dedication pays off and the jeweler starts teaching her a little about repairs and pearls, skills that will help her throughout her future because there will always be work for a good pearl stringer. Greta knows enough to know that life doesn’t always run smooth so when her employment with the jeweler is cut short she is determined to find something new, away from the laundry.

Greta was a character that I loved, she was dedicated, hard working and determined to find a better life for her family. She recognised all her mum did for them and wanted to change their circumstances to make her life easier. In most of her decisions she put the needs of her family first, a sacrifice which she didn’t realise the depth of at the time.

Jem Baillie is a hardworker in Perthshire with his parents. He and his dad work in forestry and fish for pearls. The last pearl they found together was a beauty, a Queen of pearls, and one that Sam Baillie wanted no-one to find out about, not even his wife. He wants to put it aside for Jem’s education so that he can make something better of himself but a shifty pearl dealer manages to swindle it and Jem vows revenge.

The Last Pearl places a lot of emphasis on the importance of family; doing right by the family and respecting your family at every turn. All of the families featured in the book are very different; socially, economically and religiously but they all share deep bonds of love.

The Last Pearl is very much a history lesson about pearls as much as a tale about the characters. We learn a lot about the superstitions surrounding them along with their history. It is clear to me that Fleming has done her homework on pearls and managed to tie it all together with relevance to the story. I had never given much though to pearls really but this look at the hows, the whys and the quality was fascinating.

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There were characters I loved and characters I loathed. Fleming has written a great book with secret motivations and everyone having their reasons for what they do, and most of those were quite noble but the ones that weren’t were abominable. If it was a reaction she was after I sure had one.

All of the characters are well rounded, they are multi faceted and there is more to them than what you first see and I love that about the character development. Eben was a scoundrel, of that there was never any doubt, and the further in we got the more I despised him. Over time we discovered a little more about his past and that helped explain some of his quirks but it didn’t make me sympathetic to him as is sometimes the case.

Greta certainly gained my sympathies, she only ever chose what she thought was best for her family; always putting what she might like last. Leading her to America where she had to settle in a strange place on her own without a single ally. Her strength and initiative saw her right and no matter what obstacles arose to trip her Greta managed to fight her way back up and gain strength through the hardships.

In all The Last Pearl was a fascinating and exciting journey into the past, spanning decades and continents, and allowing us a glimpse into a past I would never have imagined.

The Last Pearl is available now through Simon & Schuster, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson Bookworld and where all good books are sold.

Leah can be followed on Facebook, her Website

Thanks to Simon & Schuster 30 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading The Last Pearl so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.

30 thoughts on “Book Club: The Last Pearl

  1. What a fantastic book! The one thing that never changed over time is what we can overcome in order to keep our family’s together. Love of family is the main characters drive to work had and hold them all together with some twists you just don’t see coming! The perfect way to spend a winters day by the fire! Go out and get a copy today!!

  2. The Last Pearl is written with characters who you really believe would live the way they have. Struggling to make ends meet so the eldest daughter does what she thinks is best for her family by marrying not for love and the story evolves credibility from there. Hardship, death, living hard against the odds. Men who want what they cannot have and destroy those in their way. Making a living out of Pearls is the only life they know now and is it the right life? A gripping story, well written, believable and with strong characters. A book to share, recommend and read again. Thank you Leah Flemming for writing the story for one to read and enjoy.

  3. The Last Pearl by Leah Fleming is an absolute must read.
    I started this book and found it very hard to put down late that night but finished it the next day.
    The characters are all very believable and engaging.
    Very family based , the story being centred around the character’s of Greta and Jem , both strong and likeable characters who will have you immersed in the stories of their lives immediately.
    The book spans the countries of Scotland , England and America starting in the early 19th century.
    I find reading about how different families of different means lived in this era and if you do as well this is a book for you.
    A tale of working hard for your quality of life and the hardship and joys that this can bring The Last Pearl is a wonderful read that I will be recommending to friends and family .
    Thankyou Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

  4. We first meet one of the main characters of the book, Jem as a young man, fishing for pearls with his father, and finding the perfect pearl, who they call Queenie. As the title suggests, at the end of the day this book is about Queenie. However as the story progresses and you become engaged with the characters “Queenie” while still the underlying thread, ceases to be the focus of the book.

    The other main character is Greta. When we first meet her she is a teenager, living with her mum and younger siblings, Kitty and Tom. Despite, or because of, her desire to see her family out of the squalor of Walmgate York, where they have been forced to live due to her father’s untimely death, Greta determines that she needs to use her hands to help raise the family out of the circumstances in which they find themselves. One thing on which she is clear is she will not paint her face and go out on the town on Friday night when the men have their pay packets as some of her school friends do.

    Greta loves to look in the jewelry shop windows at the beautiful pearls, and when old Saul Abraham the watchmaker offers to teach her how to string beads she thinks all her dreams have come true. Sadly things don’t work out for Greta, however she believes her luck has again changed when she meets Ebenezer Slinger (Eben) the jeweler.

    The reader however has met Eben before, a most unpleasant character, the levels to which he will stoop becoming revealed as the tale progresses.

    During the course of the book we learn much about the pearl industry, both in Scotland and the Mississippi, how to tell real from fake, and the superstitions associated with them. We also get an insight into life in the late 19th century in Scotland, England and America, class structure, religious differences and the perceived place of men and women in society.

    Both Jem and Greta are strongly focused on their respective families, at times to the detriment of their own happiness, but at all times they remain engaging and likable characters (although I confess to wanting to give Greta a slap on a couple of occasions for decisions she made!).

    An engaging and well written book that is well worth a read. Thank you Beauty and Lace giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

  5. I really enjoyed reading Leah Fleming’s The Last Pearl. It is a grand and sweeping narrative tale encompassing late 1800’s Scotland, England and America. Central themes of love and loss, family, class and convention, the haves and have-nots are a fascinating glimpse into a world of yesteryear. I especially enjoyed learning about the pearl industry of which I previously knew nothing.

    Although to my knowledge not involved in the pearl industry, ancestors of mine live in Scotland and England during this time and so I found myself imagining them amongst the community in Scotland and York.

    A story with twists and turns and so many hurdles for Greta to overcome. I was so glad she came around at the end and I found the ending a fitting conclusion.

    Thanks so much Beauty and Lace and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this gorgeous book, and congratulations to Leah Fleming on a wonderful novel. A refreshing change from my usual modern fiction genre, I will certainly recommend this book to friends and family.

  6. I thoroughly enjoyed this new novel by Leah Fleming. It’s what one would refer to as an epic tale, that spans several generations as well as continents. It is set in Scotland, England and America in the late 1800’s. It’s a beautiful story and I love the way the author, Leah Fleming, manages to expertly weave the different characters’ stories together.
    The topics covered include, desire, happiness, revenge and most importantly, love of family. If you love historical fiction, family saga or simply enjoy a good read , then this book is definitely or you. thank you Beauty and Lace for giving me the opportunity to read this novel. Now I’m looking forward to reading Leah Fleming’s other books.

  7. I really enjoyed this book! I don’t often enough read books that are set in the past like this, as sometimes the language gets a bit much or is so thick that it can’t be understood, but this flowed and was easy to understand and fall in love with. It wasn’t full of old language, but just enough to remind you where you were.
    The story is heavily based on families and their struggles of the time and of course the pearl industry – a very different thing to read about as I had never thought about it or learnt about it before!
    I really enjoyed this book and will be sure to be on the look out for more by Leah Fleming!
    Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

  8. Wow ! I loved this book written by Leah Fleming.

    It”s a sad story about one woman’s fight for love and survival. It is surprising that the themes in this story intertwine with many incidents that happen now days also.

    Greta the main character in this book is portrayed as the hero in the story, Struggle after struggle she always rises and tries to make a better life for herself. At times i felt sorry for her and everything she had to endure.

    I found that the book had a great story line and i learnt quite a bit about farming pearls.

    Even though many bad things occurred throughout this book , its still a LOVE STORY.

    Well Done Leah Fleming

  9. Couldn’t put it down family drama over two continents spanning a long 30 years. This book kept me interested and going back for more and I read it over a few days. I enjoyed the characters and the settings throughout the book, I could visualise the settings in my head as I was reading. I have also recommended this book to others.

  10. The Last Pearl was the first novel I have read, by Leah Flemming. I could be biased, as I love stories set in the worlds so different from where we are today, but I was truely enthralled by the novel from the first few pages.
    Flemming careful spins together a story of based on polar opposite characters and intertwines their lives. Greta is lovely- determined, kind hearted and selfless she seeks a better life for her family and sister through an accidental lesson learning to string pearls. Similarly Jem is intent on seeking revenge to the one that stole his rare pearl, Queenie, one of the last memories he has of his father and the potential good fortune that was meant to follow from his discovery. Eben is manipulative and has his own agenda. Greedy and out for himself – he is a frustrating man.
    Flemming uses beautiful descriptive language to convey strong imagery of the characters, their personalities and the continents the story features. It was. Page turner from the start and a perfect book to read on a rainy Sunday afternoon curled up on the couch with a cuppa.

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