Book Synopsis:
A young woman’s body floats in the Dubai marina. Her death alters the fates of six people, each one striving for a better life in an unforgiving city.
A young Irish man comes to stay with his sister, keen to erase his troubled past in the heat of the Dubai sun. A Russian sex worker has outsmarted the system so far – but will her luck run out? A Pakistani taxi driver dreams of a future for his daughters. An Emirate man hides the truth about who he really is. An Ethiopian maid tries to carve out a path of her own. From every corner of the globe, Dubai has made promises to them all. Promises of gilded opportunities and bright new horizons, the chance to forget the past and protect long-held secrets.
But Dubai breaks its promises, with deadly consequences. In a city of mirages, how do you find your way out?
Diving For Pearls is published on the 3rd June 2021 in ebook and hardback. You can pre-order your copy using one of the links below.
My Review:
I thought Diving For Pearls was a well written, absorbing read which was very thought provoking.
The book is told from the points of view of six main characters who have all had very different experiences of life in Dubai. We have Siobhan who likes her expat lifestyle and tends to spend a lot of money, her brother who is visiting, their maid Gete who is from Ethiopia, Tahir a taxi driver and Lydia a Russian prostitute. Through these characters the reader starts to understand a bit more about Dubai and to understand that it isn’t as glamorous as it first might appear.
As the story unfolds, we learn more about each of the characters and discover that each of them are trapped in their own way which was quite poignant to read about at times. My heart particularly went out to poor Tahir having to work long shifts in a hot taxi to come home to a shared dorm room with not much food. The fly on the wall glimpse made me feel that I knew the characters personally and I started to feel quite upset with how things were for them. I found myself wishing I could somehow go into the book and help.
Overall I really enjoyed this book which I found hard to put down at times. It was very interesting to get to know the characters and to find out a bit more about Dubai which is a city I’ve always found fascinating, though one I might not be visiting now. The murder mystery side of the story kept me guessing until the end which I always enjoy. The different storylines were very thought-provoking and I have found myself thinking about the story long after I have finished reading the book. It’s definitely made me think about what secrets and people big cities may be hiding. If you are after a book for a book club or would like a great book to enjoy on the beach this summer then I’d definitely recommend this book.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Double Day for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Jamie O’Connell has had short stories highly commended by the Costa Short Story Award and the Irish Book Award Short Story of the Year. He has been longlisted for BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines Short Story Competition and shortlisted for the Maeve Binchy Travel Award and the Sky Arts Futures Fund. He has an MFA and MA in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. He has worked for Penguin Random House, Gill Books and O’Brien Press. Diving for Pearls is his first novel.
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