The Unfinished World - Paperback

by Marilyn Bowering (Author)

Distraught after her grandmother Nora's death, Pearl scatters her ashes in the places Nora loved. As she retraces her grandmother's last journey, she recovers a series of handmade dolls that have been handed down in the family for generations. Hidden within each is a tiny note from grandmother to granddaughter. Together, these dolls and the messages they carry lead Pearl to recall and recount tales given to her as a child. It is these stories, ranging from the semi-mythic past to the present, that enable Pearl to see her life and her struggles against the larger scale of human survival, dislocation, war, and immigration as well as love and responsibility to the future. Pearl's mysterious gift of communication ultimately allies her with the survival of another species and also provides the key to unlocking love and happiness for herself.

The Unfinished World is a timely reminder that second chances are possible, as are deep and fundamental connections with the natural world.

Back Jacket

A magnificent novel for a global culture seemingly intent on stripping the young of the possibilities of love, purpose and belonging. Pearl stands at the end of her strand of descent and DNA with the resources of the lives of those who have come before to act as warning and counsel. Can she uncover their significance to her own life and change its course?

Author Biography

Marilyn Bowering is a Canadian novelist and poet who grew up in Victoria, B.C. and lives there now. Her first novel, To All Appearances A Lady, was a New York Times Notable Book; her second, Visible Worlds, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, nominated for the Dublin IMPAC Prize, awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize-and was praised by The Independent as "a tour de force" and by The New York Times Book Review as "a vast, sprawling feast of a book." Her most recent work, More Richly in Earth, was longlisted for the Saltire Prize. She is also the librettist for Marilyn Forever (Gavin Bryars) and the author of essays including "When We Walked on the Backs of Fish" in Green Matters.