Jeff Talarigo

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Texas

In 1948, a nineteen-year-old Japanese pearl diver is in her fourth season of perfecting the techniques of her age-old occupation. But her dreams of spending her life diving in the waters of the Inland Sea are shattered when she discovers that she has leprosy. She knows that the shame attached to the disease is inescapable: rejection by her family is imminent, exile unavoidable. No more than two months elapse before authorities send her off to a leprosarium on the island of Nagashima, and although it is only seven miles from her home, it is a world away from all that is familiar to her. At once, she is instructed to forget her past, to strike her name from thekoseki, the family register, and ordered to choose a new name. As “Miss Fuji” looks around her, she sees her own future in the debilitated bodies and the lives of the more than two thousand other patients. But her “future” never comes; her own case of leprosy remains a mild one owing to the discovery of a medicine that impedes the disease’s progression in its victims. Yet she is not permitted to leave Nagashima, and over time, she wonders whether she could even survive back on the mainland. In the end, it is her constant connection to the sea and her moving encounters with those around her—a writer, a Korean storyteller, a gardener, a tanka poet, an urn painter—that give her insight into her own true nature and the deep wellspring of courage she needs to reclaim her freedom. Written with precision and eloquence,The Pearl Diveris an unforgettable and compassionate tale of one woman’s search for wisdom, beauty, and self-worth; an extraordinary literary debut by Jeff Talarigo.

The Pearl Diver

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#paperback #japan #1948 #pearldiving #leprosy #isolation #compassion #lepercolony this guy can write!  Loved this book so much I bought it again in hardcover.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Minnesota

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.

Her expectations about living out her life as a Japanese pearl diver shattered by the discovery that she has leprosy, a nineteen-year-old girl is rejected by her family and exiled to a leprosarium on the island of Nagashima, where she forges a new identity among fellow patients and rediscovers her love for the sea. A first novel.

Category - Fiction / Action & Adventure

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Like New

Listed - A month ago

Ships From - Texas

Est. Publication Date - Jul 2004

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The Pearl Diver

ISBN: 9780385510516

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Category - Fiction / Action & Adventure

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Like New

Listed - A month ago

Ships From - Texas

Est. Publication Date - Jul 2004

Additional Information

The Pearl Diver

ISBN: 9780385510516

Publisher Description

Tags

The Pearl Diver

By:

$5.00

Meet the seller

Discover more

The Pearl Diver

By: Jeff Talarigo

Pango Buyer Protection

More from this seller

Additional titles by Jeff Talarigo

'The Pearl Diver' readers also enjoyed:

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