Book Title: THE PEARL FARMERS by Stacey Gordon
Character Name: Penn Lockshire
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
I grew up in a very small town in Tennessee - a town that my great-great-grandfather had a hand in building, and where my dad was kind of a minor celebrity even in his youth. My early childhood was pretty carefree. My parents were so fixated on their dream that I was allowed to roam the woods and swim in the lake without a lot of rules. I was the baby of the family, and my two older sisters loved and looked out for me when we were kids.
Everything kind of changed after I discovered the pearl, though. It was the largest pearl of its kind ever discovered in North America. My dad took it as some kind of a sign, and began to see me as his good-luck charm—even as a kind of mascot for the business. As I got older, he expected more from me, and all I wanted was to get as far away as possible from all of the obligation.
What is your greatest talent?
I’m a multimedia artist, like my mother. I’ve spent the past fifteen years learning sculpture and creative writing, and now I’m pursuing filmmaking in a graduate program in New York. I would say my greatest talent is telling stories in unique ways, including visually.
Significant other?
Daron Osler, a fellow film grad student in my program, is my “lover roomie” (as one of our friends calls him)—I care for him more than I let on, but I keep him at arm’s length because I just can’t get too attached right now. It’s a not-well-kept secret that I’m also having an affair with Chester Steen, an associate professor of film history.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I can’t deal with any sense of obligation—from a romantic partner, my friends, or my sisters. As soon as I get a hint of high expectations from friends or family, I tend to flee, fast.
Where do you live?
Currently I’m living in the West Village of New York City, in the apartment my parents bought in the eighties to stay in when they traveled there for business. It’s a way for me to afford school and buy a little extra time—but the situation might not last that much longer.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
It’s temporary, and I treat it that way. I refuse to decorate or make my apartment comfortable or personal, because I don’t want any distractions, just a place to sleep.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
Neither! I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life and art—I can’t even commit to a houseplant right now. I do have a niece and nephew who I try to keep up with. I especially have high hopes for my nephew Pete, who seems like he might turn out to be a “theater kid” or a writer or something.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a professional student for now, but aspiring to make films for a living.
Greatest disappointment?
I wish my father hadn’t put such high expectations on me as a child, treating me like his good-luck charm essential to the success of his dream. Years after his death, I’m still angry at how much pressure he put on me—and how much I let him down.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I don’t have time for fun. I work every minute I can. Occasionally my boyfriend or friends drag me out for drinks or parties—but I’m always counting the minutes until I can get back to the media lab to get back to editing my film!
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
Well, I’m starting to worry that I might be a sociopath. Kidding, not kidding. Seriously, sometimes I worry that I only engage with people based on what I need from them.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
I have a wicked case of creative block, which everybody keeps telling me might be burnout. I never seem to have enough time, and when I do, I have a hard time making progress. Also, I’m thirty-three and feel like I’m running out of time to achieve my dreams. I need to move faster!
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
Honestly—I miss my family. I’ve shut myself off from them because I can’t handle the guilt of not helping them carry on the family business, and because we’re all so different and they don’t understand why I’m living the life I am. But though I choose to isolate myself so I can focus on my career, I still have a lot of nostalgia for my childhood in Nashville and my strange, chaotic family.
A Novel
For fans of Ann Patchett, a layered, multigenerational family novel about three sisters carrying on the legacy of their family’s pearl farm in small‑town Tennessee.
Three estranged sisters—Helen, Anna, and Penn Lockshire—are bound by the shimmering but fragile legacy of their family’s freshwater pearl farm in rural Tennessee. When the business that once made them famous faces collapse, the sisters are pulled back into each other’s lives and forced to reckon with old betrayals, unspoken resentments, and the complicated truth of their inheritance. Soon, what began as a fight for survival becomes a reckoning with the myths that shaped them and the secrets buried in the family’s past.
From the discovery of a rare pearl in 1981 to the struggles of a failing farm in 2008, the Lockshire sisters must navigate love, loss, ambition, and forgiveness to decide whether their heritage is a blessing to preserve—or a burden to escape.
Rich with emotional depth and anchored by the pearl’s enduring symbolism—a thing of beauty born from irritation—this sweeping story of family, identity, and resilience will captivate readers of Celeste Ng and Claire Lombardo.
Women's Fiction Family Life [ She Writes Press, On Sale: November 3, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798896362043 / eISBN: 9781546135562 ]
Stacey Gordon grew up in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio and began her career as a trade journalist covering the cultured pearl and jewelry industries, visiting farms across Asia and companies around the world. For the past twenty-five years she’s worked in marketing and user experience design for the Silicon Valley tech industry. This is her debut novel. She lives with her family in Alameda, California.
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