Pearce Oysters by Joselyn Takacs ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

A family drama set along the Louisiana coastline during the 2010 BP Oil Spill, Pearce Oysters follows a third-generation oyster farmer whose business, family, and livelihood are on the brink of collapse. 

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June 2025; Zibby Publishing; 978-1958506509
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); southern fiction

The Pearce family has farmed oysters for three generations in the small town of Golden Vale, Louisiana - a hardscrabble coastal town 80 miles south of New Orleans.  The main industry in the area used to be fishing and harvesting oysters, but is now mainly supported by the petroleum industry.  After the sudden death of his father, Jordan takes over the family oyster farming.  His life is tough, and he's able to barely support his mother and his brother on his income.  His brother Benny was left half of the family business but was more interested in pursuing his singing career in New Orleans.  Jordan's life changes dramatically when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig suddenly explodes off the coast of Louisiana, prompting one of the worst environmental disasters in history. As they battle the possible environmental fallout, they hope that the oil will not affect their oyster crop, and Benny comes home to help Jordan.  As the oil moves closer to the shore, they realize that their family business, as well as that of the other family fisheries, is over.  With Jordan and Benny living in the same house, all of their animosity towards each other makes their daily lives even more stressful.  Will they be able to become a family again as they face the end of their family business?

This book is a close and sympathetic look at how big business can ruin the beauty of an area and affect the livelihood of a class of people.  The author is an environmentalist who interviewed many of the oystermen after the BP oil spill, and the book is based on those interviews.  The result of the oil spill and the subsequent loss of their family businesses is heartbreaking, but unfortunately, disasters like this continue to happen.

Buy Pearce Oysters at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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