Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl

“Under Mandy-Suzanne Wong’s gaze, small uncharismatic invertebrates become heroes of our fragile ecology. Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl shows us what jellyfish–often regarded as villains, clogging up our warming seas–can teach us about love; what starfish know about living multiple lives at once, and much more. This is a book to be savored slowly, like a ritual of deep attention, offering the calm of hygge in literary form.”–Maria Reva, author of Endling

“Mesmerizing… . Relentlessly empathetic, these essays reframe nonhuman beings as individuals worthy of respect. Readers will be moved.”–Publishers Weekly

”[Wong’s] gentle coexistence with other life-forms stands in stark contrast to humanity’s predilection for exploitation… . A passionate paean to life’s wonders.”–Kirkus Reviews

“For lovers of Sabrina Imbler’s How Far the Light Reaches and Lulu Miller’s Why Fish Don’t Exist, jump into this collection of essays radically reimagining the ideal of ‘the self’ through coexistence with other species. She teaches us to cherish the many other life forms while knowing we will never fully understand them.”–Lucy Yu, Electric Literature

“Wong’s investigations undulate, beckoning an embrace of the unknowable, and with it a call to better coexistence.”–Orion Magazine

”[Wong] has made sea snails totally present on the page, magically uncurling their opaque inner worlds, making them resonant subjects of marvel and love… . Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl is up there with some of my favorite animal writing of the past decade.”–Ania Szremski, 4Columns

“Wong’s sensibility aligns with and compellingly amplifies that of scientists who study invertebrates out of wonder and awe for their fascinating lives… . She argues that when dealing with unknown and to some extent unknowable animals, imagination may produce ‘truths that are more potent and essential than facts.’ I admire how fearlessly she owns this point.”–Barbara J. King, Science

“A work of boldness and excellence … Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl is a striking, evocative essay collection about the epic beauty and vulnerability of ocean life.”–Foreword Reviews

“The book evolves into a partnership between Wong and reader, discarding the carapace of its topic to reveal its mercurial, open core. It comes to life… . Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl is a work of beauty, imagination, and depth. Most importantly, it advances a new perspective on how we can fight for good in this world–and suggests that a new code of justice must rely on compassion, instead of identification, to endure.”–Annelie Hyatt, Accent Accent Magazine

Mandy-Suzanne Wong is a Bermudian writer of fiction and essays. Her books include the novel The Box, shortlisted for the US/Canada Republic of Consciousness Prize, the novel Drafts of a Suicide Note, and the fiction chapbook Awabi.

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