Book Review: Pebble & Dove
The narrative of this story follows a mother called Lauren and her daughter Dove. Together they take a trip to Florida to an elderly trailer park by the name of Swaying Palms. It's here that Lauren finds herself inheriting the trailer home of her recently deceased mother Imogen. Imogen and Lauren's relationship growing up was strained and distant in many ways and after so many years of never speaking to her mother, Lauren finds herself with so many questions about who her mother really was in her final days. As Lauren struggles to reflect on the relationship she no longer has with her mother; her own daughter Dove struggles to maintain the existing relationship she has with her. Dove is young, brash and defiant in so many ways that her mother isn't and it's their clear differences that puts the mother and daughter on all too familiar uneven ground. Dove's release from this troubled relationship comes in the form of Pebble, an 80-year-old manatee who grew up as an attraction of the nearby venue of Flamingo Key Aquarium and Tackle. As the story goes on, Pebble's relevancy to Dove, Lauren and Imogen comes to light in ways that will reflect the relationship between the three in some really touching ways.
I love how the story does a wonderful job in reflecting on the weight and complicated nature behind the relationships a parent and child can share during the course of their lives. Lauren's relationship with her mother Imogen is clearly portrayed as troubled and Amy Jones does a great job in breaking down on the characteristics of both the mother and daughter in a way that allows the reader to clearly see what defines the pair and the relationship they failed to maintain. It's wonderfully grounded because it doesn't choose to paint any one person in the story as a bad person. These are all genuine people with positive and negative elements which work to define their depth. The way Amy then uses this lost relationship as a means to define the relationship Lauren shares with her own daughter Dove and ponder on where their relationship may go due to their own current struggles is layered so smartly. What ties everyone of these characters together though in a wonderfully insightful manner is Pebble. This manatee allows for common ground to be shared with these struggling characters in a way that opens up aspects of their relationships they never would have considered.
While the narrative and its weight are some truly excellent stuff, I can't help but feel the book struggles from a descriptive and pacing end. Amy Jones loves to breakdown a scene in great detail but it often comes off as distractive, especially in the earlier parts of the novel. It all combines together to create a clear pacing issue for me that made getting through the story a bit harder than I would have appreciated. It's annoying when I love the narrative behind a book and want to dive deeper into its developments but often feel held up by unnecessarily slow pacing.
On the whole though, Pebble & Dove is a beautiful story that takes the concept of familial trauma and tries to break it down in a way that feels transparent and inspirational. I can't speak for myself, but I imagine there are a lot of parents and children out there who let their struggled upbringing split them apart and while it's a sad fact, it's important to reflect on that trauma and understand that you get to choose how much of that trauma you let define you further for good or bad. Especially when you are bringing up your own children, it's important to listen, reflect and focus on being better for it.
I love how the story does a wonderful job in reflecting on the weight and complicated nature behind the relationships a parent and child can share during the course of their lives. Lauren's relationship with her mother Imogen is clearly portrayed as troubled and Amy Jones does a great job in breaking down on the characteristics of both the mother and daughter in a way that allows the reader to clearly see what defines the pair and the relationship they failed to maintain. It's wonderfully grounded because it doesn't choose to paint any one person in the story as a bad person. These are all genuine people with positive and negative elements which work to define their depth. The way Amy then uses this lost relationship as a means to define the relationship Lauren shares with her own daughter Dove and ponder on where their relationship may go due to their own current struggles is layered so smartly. What ties everyone of these characters together though in a wonderfully insightful manner is Pebble. This manatee allows for common ground to be shared with these struggling characters in a way that opens up aspects of their relationships they never would have considered.
While the narrative and its weight are some truly excellent stuff, I can't help but feel the book struggles from a descriptive and pacing end. Amy Jones loves to breakdown a scene in great detail but it often comes off as distractive, especially in the earlier parts of the novel. It all combines together to create a clear pacing issue for me that made getting through the story a bit harder than I would have appreciated. It's annoying when I love the narrative behind a book and want to dive deeper into its developments but often feel held up by unnecessarily slow pacing.
On the whole though, Pebble & Dove is a beautiful story that takes the concept of familial trauma and tries to break it down in a way that feels transparent and inspirational. I can't speak for myself, but I imagine there are a lot of parents and children out there who let their struggled upbringing split them apart and while it's a sad fact, it's important to reflect on that trauma and understand that you get to choose how much of that trauma you let define you further for good or bad. Especially when you are bringing up your own children, it's important to listen, reflect and focus on being better for it.
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