Pearl - Nancy Jo Cullen
By Kirti Bhadresa
The beauty of a good symphony is that a listener gets to voyage through a string of varying stars, all drawn together by a singular theme. Nancy Jo Cullen's award-winning book of poetry, Pearl, is like a symphony of words.
While tales of cowboys, rail workers and pioneers are common in Alberta, stories of the women who were also here at the same time are less so. And preferred to pretend don't exist. Pearl Rose was one of those women.
Pearl is a collection of poems based on the life of Calgary's most famous madam of the early 20th century. Pearl Rose catered to the city's elite over her career that spanned almost three decades, three arrests, a marriage, a divorce, and a change of heart.
By exploring the life of this (in)famous woman from her luxurious perches in coveted areas if Calgary, Cullen traverses emotions and events, drawing a parallel with the lives of all women who have made sacrifices, and choices. Tales of reality and resignation are buoyed by common themes of hope and humour. Cullen's language is harsh, gentle, passionate, stactato and lyrical. Together, the poems come together like a novel.
Cullen calls Pearl Rose's story 'emblematic of the renegade individualism Alberta claims to love.' But Cullen exquisitely embeds this flag of individualism in the most universal human themes.
Nancy Jo Cullen's Pearl was awarded the Trade Fiction Book Award in the 2007 Alberta Book Publishing Awards and was shortlisted for the City of Calgary's W.O. Mitchell Book Prize for 2006. Pearl is published by Frontenac, and is for sale at the Arusha Office for 100% Calgary Dollars. |