The Pearl Diver
Author: Talarigo, Jeff
ISBN: 9781400034918
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Year first published: 15 Apr 2005
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback / softback
A haunting first novel about one woman's search for wisdom, beauty, and self-worth while living among outcasts in 1940s Japan. First time in paperback.
In 1948, a nineteen-year-old pearl diver's dreams of spending her life combing the waters of Japan's Inland Sea are shattered when she discovers she has leprosy. By law, she is exiled to an island leprosarium, where she is stripped of her dignity and instructed to forget her past. Her name is erased from her family records, and she is forced to select a new one. To the two thousand patients on the island of Nagashima, she becomes Miss Fuji.
Although drugs arrest the course of Miss Fuji's disease, she cannot leave the colony. Instead, she becomes a caretaker to the other patients, and through the example of their courage, she gains insight into the deep wellspring of strength she will need to reclaim her freedom. Written with precision and eloquence, The Pearl Diver is a dazzling meditation on isolation and community, cruelty and compassion.
ISBN: 9781400034918
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Year first published: 15 Apr 2005
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback / softback
A haunting first novel about one woman's search for wisdom, beauty, and self-worth while living among outcasts in 1940s Japan. First time in paperback.
In 1948, a nineteen-year-old pearl diver's dreams of spending her life combing the waters of Japan's Inland Sea are shattered when she discovers she has leprosy. By law, she is exiled to an island leprosarium, where she is stripped of her dignity and instructed to forget her past. Her name is erased from her family records, and she is forced to select a new one. To the two thousand patients on the island of Nagashima, she becomes Miss Fuji.
Although drugs arrest the course of Miss Fuji's disease, she cannot leave the colony. Instead, she becomes a caretaker to the other patients, and through the example of their courage, she gains insight into the deep wellspring of strength she will need to reclaim her freedom. Written with precision and eloquence, The Pearl Diver is a dazzling meditation on isolation and community, cruelty and compassion.
