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Pearl in a Cage

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Pearl in a Cage

Written by: Joy Dettman

Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein

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On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives. Gertrude's daughter Amber - who has recently lost a son in childbirth - and her husband Norman take the child in. Loved by some but scorned by more, including her stepmother and sister, baby Jenny survives her childhood and grows into an exquisite and talented young woman. But who were her parents? And why does she so strongly resemble an old photograph of Gertrude's philandering husband?©2009 Joy Dettman. (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing

Joy DettmanDeidre RubensteinBolinda audioWoody Creek

Contemporary Fiction

Genre Fiction

Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction

Editorial Reviews

Joy Dettman's compelling saga is set in the rural Australian logging town of Woody Creek in the early 1900s, when Gertrude Foote discovers a pregnant woman near the railroad, unconscious and near death. She doesn't survive, but the child does, and is soon taken in by Gertrude's daughter, Amber, and her husband, Norman, who have recently lost their son in childbirth. The fairy tale turns dark, though, as young Jenny suffers under the neglect and abuse of her new mother. Diedre Rubenstein's performance is sharp and precise, bringing deft characterization and heightening the emotions of this brutal tale.