Gun Love: A Novel

Pearl has spent her life living in an old, undrivable Mercury parked at the edge of a Florida trailer park. Her mother, Margot, fled her upscale home when she gave birth to Pearl as a teenager, planning to live in the car only temporarily. Fourteen years later, they’ve made their life among the wayward trailer park crowd. Pearl, who has never known a different home, is happy with her mother and their cozy life in the car. When Margot gets involved intensely with a man named Eli, however, their stability cracks. Margot and Eli want privacy in the car, so Pearl must find new places to spend her time, leading her deep into her neighbors’ world of gun running. When the worst happens to Margot, and Pearl is on the cusp of losing everything, she flees–only to learn too late that you can’t outrun the destiny that was coming for you all along.

Clement’s poetic prose is a startling contrast to the violence and mayhem of the Florida that makes up Pearl’s world. Guns are part of life in this corner of the United States, as unsurprising and unalarming as a cigarette–until they’re used for their intended purpose, with no thought of who might be left behind. This is a haunting, evocative novel of life on the fringes.