The Pearl by John Steinbeck

"Rachel, what are you doing?"

Rachel is setting up her laptop and using her mobile to pick up a signal, but I can't seem to make head or tails of it  at all.

"Ella, we are setting up Skype. Frannie can't make it and she says that we are to Skype her to talk about tonight's novel."

My cat, Mr. Tumnus, looks at me with a knowing look. He's suspicious and so am I.
 "Rachel, if we let Frannie Skype us this week, she will want to Skype the week after that and so on. She needs to get out of the house at her age. Besides, who is going to eat all this leftover food. I am already starting to look like Bridget Jones with all the food I'm wolfing down."

Rachel looks up briefly, "Relax, darling. We loved Bridget's wobbly bits and we love yours. Now, tell me what we are eating tonight."

"Oysters, of course," I say, presenting the tray I have put together.

"Ella! Nice touch with the pearls around the edge of the tray. Frannie is going to be sorry she missed this."

The computer speakers squawk to life. "Missing what? What are you girls doing without me?"

"Hello, Frannie," Rachel says. "You are missing out on oysters tonight. Aren't you jealous?"

"Hardly," Frannie sniffs. "I'm in Mexico at a four star resort. You haven't had oysters until a man named Cinco serves you oysters."

Rachel and I exchange a shocked look. I have a thousand questions for Frannie, but if I ask her what she's doing down there, she'll be talking for an hour. Best to get the show on the road, as they say.

"Did you read The Pearl on the plane ride, Frannie?" I ask. I rise to get Rachel her usual glass of wine.

"Indeed. It was excellent. But it's Steinback, Ella. Of course, it's excellent."

"So are these oysters," Rachel says, slurping one back. "All right, first off, I have to say that I love Steinbeck's descriptive writing. It's tight and accurate, yet ripe. I love how he has people being belched out of buildings and the sea and the sky acting like characters."

"Agreed," I say. I scowl at Mr. Tumnus who is licking his lips and staring at the oysters. Moving the tray, I add, "I loved how everything revolved around the music that Kino hears in his head and in his heart. It was a brilliant device used to set the mood in each scene or to transition into an opposing theme. Very clever."

"I love a book that makes you ask questions of yourself. And this book did that. " Frannie nods her head while saying it. "I found myself completely sympathetic to Juana and Kino and their struggle for wanting more in life. I also identified with being caught in that precarious place where things have changed and one can't go back to business as usual. It is an excellent read, Ella. Well done. Good form on this choice, I must say."

I smile and ask Frannie if she has any ideas about what to read next week.

Frannie smiles and gives us a wink. "I'm going to bring you back a little something from Mexico."

Rachel raises her glass in a mock toast and says, "I hope it's a book and not a man named Cinco."

Mr. Tumnus rolls onto his back and I slurp another oyster.

"Oh, it will be good, ladies. Wait and see."