What readers think of A Pearl in the Storm, plus links to write your own review.

This book, about the author's attempt to row across the Atlantic in a 23 ft. rowboat, is full of compelling and technically brilliant writing. Her descriptive paragraphs of the actual voyage itself are interwoven with snippets of her history and the events that led her to undertake the adventure. She attempts to plumb her experiences on the sea for insight into herself, and describes an epiphany during a hurricane, but seems to fall short of making us believe she really makes peace with herself and her life.

She is dismissing and scornful of the central and deeply personal question for all adventurers like herself: WHY? At times, the reluctance to confront and attempt to answer that question seemed self-defeating and grandiose. Still, none of this stopped me from becoming totally engrossed in her story. The writing is so well done that I actually felt I was in the boat with her at times. Well worth the time and thought!

This book is full of amazing tales of personal determination and perseverance. I marveled at the author's ability to take on challenges for her own fulfillment/redemption. I believe my only reservations come from my general skepticism of memoirs lately (after the Frey episode and others). I would have liked to do some of my own fact checking, but will have to wait until I have more time. For now, I'll say, it is a good and sometimes inspirational read. An interesting life, indeed.

... but it just wasn't happening. While the book is an easy read it certainly didn't inspire me. I felt the author continuously reminded the reader of her education, degrees and good deeds. The book was obviously written as a way for the author to purge her soul of demons but I really wasn't interested.

This book was a required summer reading book for my high school as well as many others. While reading it, I got very bored very fast and could barely give the book my full attention for more than five minutes. I was constantly picking up this book and putting it right back down, all summer long. After approximately a month and a half, I finally finished reading the book. I can't say that I enjoyed more than a few pages of this entire book. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions, so if you enjoyed the book, I am very happy for you. I, on the other hand, do not recommend this book to anyone-whether you are a teenager or an adult, I do not see why anyone would enjoy this story.