Mother of Pearl (novel) Mother of Pearl (novel) "See Nacre for material produced by mollusks." Mother of Pearl (1999) is a novel by Melinda Haynes, and was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection, June 1999. The audio version is performed by Nana Visitor. Set in Petal, Mississippi, a small town at the close of the 1950s, this novel tells the story of the 28-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, a 15-year-old white girl, who is the daughter of the town prostitute and an unknown father. They are both separately seeking the family, love, and affection
The Pearl (novel) develops throughout the novel. He begins as a hard-working, simple man that has a wife, Juana, and a son, Coyotito. He is content with his life-style as a diver but is not wealthy until he discovers the pearl. After discovering the pearl, Kino gradually changes to become a completely different man. Though his family is still the center of his actions, he is also driven by greed. Quickly, he becomes obsessed with the material things that the pearl could bring, which is drastically different than before. He is no longer content with his son being uneducated, or his family not