Pearly Everlasting

Canadian poet and novelist Armstrong (Pye-Dogs) offers lyrically told historical fiction set in the early 20th-century logging camps of New Brunswick, Canada. The story follows Pearly Everlasting, a young girl whose father is the camp cook and whose mother is a healer. Pearly grows up with an orphaned bear cub named Bruno, who she considers her brother through and through. When the mean-spirited camp boss is found dead with his face slashed, Bruno becomes the prime suspect. He is sold off to an animal trader, and Pearly leaves the safety of camp to bring him home. At turns haunting and beautiful, this is a moving story about human-animal friendship, interwoven with French Canadian folklore. Jean Ann Douglass narrates, delivering a pitch-perfect and affecting portrait of Pearly and the wide cast of secondary characters. Douglass ably employs an authentic-sounding French Canadian accent when required.