When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Louisiana coast in April of 2010, it dumped 210 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill was one of the largest environmental disasters in world history.
A new novel by Joselyn Takacs – Pearce Oysters – explores the aftermath of that disaster through the experiences of one family living along the salty, muddy coastline.
The fictional town of Golden Vale is home to the widowed May Pearce and her son, Jordan, who runs the family oyster business. A younger son, Benny, is a beatnik musician in New Orleans, and he’s spent the past few years collecting some of the profit without putting in any of the back-breaking work. That prompts a simmering resentment between the brothers that serves as an intriguing introduction to the novel.
When the BP spill threatens to destroy the Pearces’ way of life, Benny returns home to help Jordan during the crisis. As the oil inches ever closer to their oyster reefs, the fractured family begins to reckon with its past and consider a darkening future.
Takacs creates characters to love and root for, and a setting so vivid, you can almost smell the marsh. There’s a lot going on in this story — family jealousies, addiction, class struggles, grief, and the politics of environmental disaster — but the author manages to successfully juggle it all.
The reader comes away with a better understanding of the interdependence of nature and man, and a deeper respect for those who make their livings on the coast.
