Pearce Oysters

After his father’s death, 35-year-old Jordan Pearce finds himself unexpectedly in charge of his family’s 80-year-old oyster business. Takacs sets her complex debut in a coastal Louisiana town just as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. Local commercial fishing is a balancing act in the best of times, but the disaster tips the balance, and bitter struggles break out between the oil company and the small independent oyster farmers and fisherfolk. Takacs melds descriptions of the oil rig explosion and the oil’s slow ingress into the story, showing the effects of the disaster as they unfurl. Narrator Xavier Casals adopts a comfortable, unaffected demeanor, dropping into a Cajun dialect to flesh out the pertinent characters. His smooth style reflects the laid-back rural Gulf Coast vibe, imbuing the Pearce family with an outward calm that belies their inner turmoil: Jordan’s mother has been struggling since the death of the boys’ father; Jordan has been working to keep his business going and to find love, while younger brother Benny is trying to break into the music business in New Orleans.