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Conch Pearl is a suspense thriller that takes us into the lives of Dede a 12- year old expat which is someone who lives outside the Native Country. She makes friends with the people on the Island including a grifter who causes Dede costly in return. Causing Dede to flee.
Ending up on a sailboat during a storm which will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. She has to come to terms with things from her past and to make decisions that will change others lives. Making us ask ourselves why did this happen and what would happen if this or that happens.
I learned things from Conch Pearl like what is a grifter and a expat I could share with my family. As well as us in our Homeschool Lessons. This is Julie Justicz second book and I hope she writes more stories as I would like to purchase them to read. I can’t wait to check our Library to make sure they carry Conch Peal and if not I plan on asking them to order the book. As well as my local bookstore and I would like to ask you to do the same.
Conch Pearl weaves a cross-cultural narrative that reveals the damages wrought by colonialism and explores the healing power of art. Dede, a lonely twelve-year-old English expat, seeks friendship from various island residents. An American grifter provides Dede with companionship but demands something far more costly in return. When Dede impetuously flees Grand Bahama Island on a sailboat during a summer storm and washes up on a tiny cay, she is forced to confront realities she’s tried to forget, and to make decisions that will change the course of several lives. In Conch Pearl innocence battles traumatic shame, and truth finally finds expression in the tongue of the ocean.
“Conch Pearl grabbed me like a riptide. The plight of young Dede is so immersive and thrilling that I wanted to devour the book in a single sitting, yet the prose is so beautiful and visceral that I wanted to luxuriate over every delicious sentence.”—Abby Geni, author of The Wildlands, The Lightkeepers, The Last Animal, and a forthcoming short story collection, The Body Farm
“Three lives collide with tragic results in this propulsive and transporting novel… Conch Pearl is a grip-you-by-the-throat page turner about love and survival, that is profound and deeply satisfying. This is a novel you won’t forget.”
—Lynn Sloan, author Midstream and Principles of Navigation, and the story collection This Far Isn’t Far Enough
Forthcoming October 10, 2023
Preorder in print or for your favorite e-reader
From the Author:
Julie Justicz author of Conch Pearl, my second novel, to be published by indie small press, Fomite, in October, 2023. Set in the post-colonial Bahamas, Conch Pearl is an intense, fast-paced read about three island residents whose lives collide with tragic results. It is a story of power and abuse and the healing power of art. I am including a press release from Fomite.
Kirkus Reviews recently gave the novel a Kirkus Starred review, calling it a “A stirring celebration of strong-minded women, this is a superb offering by a truly talented author. Sharp, beautifully textured writing.”
Chicago author Abby Geni says, “Conch Pearl grabbed me like a riptide . . . so immersive and thrilling that I wanted to devour the book in a single sitting, yet the prose is so beautiful and visceral that I wanted to luxuriate in every delicious sentence.”
Available from Bookshop, Women & Children First, The Book Table, Amazon and other online booksellers.
Meet the Author: Julie Justicz
Born and raised in England, Julie Justicz moved to the Bahamas when she was ten, and then to the United States as a teenager. She earned a law degree from the University of Chicago and received an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. As an attorney and advocate, Julie currently works on civil rights issues in Chicago. She lives in Chicago with her spouse, Mary.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
