In 1956 Petal, Mississippi, Black Even Grade and local seer Joody Two Sun become lovers. Not long after that Even meets teenage white girl Valuable Korner, whose mother is the town hooker. Though he loves the weird Joody, Even understands Valuable's need of family as he himself was abandoned by his mother almost three decades ago.

Meanwhile, Valuable falls in love with her neighbor Jackson McLain. However, when Valuable becomes pregnant, Jackson flees town. Still, she dreams of taking care of her "Pearl" as she calls her unborn child. However, the young girl knows her family will provide no help. She turns to Joody and Valuable to help her through her pregnancy.

MOTHER OF PEARL provides readers with a taste of small town Mississipi in the early stages of the Civil Rights movement. None of the characters seem to permanently hook the reader as much as the setting does. However, what Melinda Haynes does do is imbue her characters with human flaws and attributes that change as they do. Thouh the varying misfortunes of each of the ensemble cast overwhelms the audience at times, readers will know wht this novel is a selection of Oprah's Book Club.