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This is an excellent atmospheric glimpse into late 1800s Australian history. The vividly descriptive writing will have you smelling fish, sweating and swatting bugs. Such an oppressive time in history - women and the Aboriginees were valued as less than and were treated as such. A young Englishwoman searches for the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father in this rich historical adventure novel set in the perilous world of the pearl-diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia. Lizzie Pook has written a luscious, mysterious, adventure novel set in the halcyon days of Australia's lucrative pearling industry in the late 1800's. When Eliza Brightwell's father goes missing on a diving boat, his courageous, headstrong daughter refuses to accept his fate. As Eliza seeks the truth, her father's odyssey becomes her own. She confronts danger and unearths secrets that will change the course of her life. Pook spins an expert tale of corruption, fate and family in this dazzling debut."– Adriana Trigiani bestselling author of The Good Left Undone How far is she willing to go to solve the mystery and save the ones she loves? And what family secrets will come to haunt her along the way? Because the truth may cost more than pearls – and she must decide if she’s willing to pay the price…
She makes her way toward the jetty, drawing enervated nods from the townsfolk as she passes. Their low-browed bungalows shelter under swaying palms and silvery gums. They have all been painted beige or underbelly green, but it’s not enough to stop the crawling stain of pindan dirt. The descriptions of the settings are beautiful despite the grim and dark storyline. The metaphors got a little too much at times, but I got to ‘see’ a different land. But when his lugger finally limps in, it brings with it a tale of tragedy: Charles Brightwell, master pearler, has gone missing at sea. I liked Eliza as a character. She brought an almost modern, feminist approach to her dealings with the people of Bannin Bay. I admired her tenacity and determination to find out what happened to her father. She was so brave and so stubborn and I could empathise with her frustrations as an unconventional woman living at that time. Ten years later, Eliza waits for her father and brother to return after months at sea. Eliza is horrified when her brother arrives on their pearl-diving boat, but without her father on board.Western Australia, 1886. As the pearling ships return to Bannin Bay after a long diving season, twenty-year-old Eliza Brightwell nervously awaits the arrival of her father’s boat. But when his lugger finally limps in, it brings with it a tale of tragedy: Charles Brightwell, master pearler, has gone missing at sea. An interest in the contents of a man’s library does not constitute an interest in men,” Min would scold. The father-daughter relationship was really nice to witness. I just wish a few more of those nostalgic childhood moments were included in the story to really understand their relationship but it was nonetheless touching. This was an exceptionally well researched and thought provoking novel that really explores the horrific treatment of Australia’s aboriginal population in the 19th C—the brutality, enslavement and harrowing experiences (such as forcibly splitting up families, selling children into touring ‘exhibits’ and forcing pregnant women to risk their lives pearl diving) was utterly heartbreaking (and yes I did cry ALOT whilst reading) but the rich evocative prose really brought a realness to the characters and their experiences that genuinely captured my attention (and my heart.) Beautifully evocative prose describing landscape and people intertwine in this bittersweet story of love, family, and courage. The small cast of characters, each wonderfully fleshed out, and Eliza’s quest are what propel the story. Alongside the characters, it is place that is the book’s focus: the ocean and the land complement and enhance Eliza’s investigation. VERDICT Readers will delight in the descriptive language that the author employs, so much so that they themselves will hear the sea and feel the desiccation of the heat and loneliness of the land.”— Library Journal
My apologies,” he gasps, although a smile plays about his lips. “You ladies got right in the way. I beg your pardon.” He stands aside to let them pass. “Please.”
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Set in 19th century Australia, Moonlight And The Pearler’s Daughter is a grisly historical fiction and wild adventure that reveals the horrors of the early pearling industry, from the vile exploitation of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to the dangers met every day at sea. But this story is shared through the perspective of Eliza Brightwell, who arrived to Bannin Bay as a child—her father being one of the many British people lured to the remote coastlines by the promise of pearls, riches, and a better life.
This is an astonishing debut from Lizzie Pook, Australian historical fiction set in the latter part of the 19th century with a memorable, strong and independent eponymous pearler's daughter in 20 year old Eliza Brightwell. It is 1886, and a 10 year old Eliza has sailed from England to Bannin Bay in Western Australia with her parents, older brother Thomas, Uncle Willem and Aunt Martha. They arrive intending to pursue her father, Charlie's dream of making his fortune by taking up pearling, but it turns out to be a hard life, the unrelenting scorching sun and the unforgiving environment, with its surprising, often deadly, fauna and flora, and a profession with many diverse rivals, with divers facing life threatening challenges and dangers. 10 years later in 1896, a lonely Eliza is awaiting the arrival of her father's pearling lugger, the Starling, which has been at sea for over 3 months. Intricate and mesmerising, overall a fascinating insight into 19th century Western Australia.' Historical Novel Society Lizzie Pook has written a luscious, mysterious, adventure novel set in the halcyon days of Australia's lucrative pearling industry in the late 1800's. When Eliza Brightwell's father goes missing on a diving boat, his courageous, headstrong daughter refuses to accept his fate. As Eliza seeks the truth, her father's odyssey becomes her own. She confronts danger and unearths secrets that will change the course of her life. Pook spins an expert tale of corruption, fate and family in this dazzling debut."-- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left UndoneSet on the northern coast of Western Australia, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter takes place during 1886. It’s in the fictional town of Bannin Bay that 20 year-old Eliza Brightwell awaits the return of her father and brother aboard their pearling lugger, the White Starling, after nine weeks at sea. When the ship finally sails in near dusk, its flag fluttering at half-mast, Eliza is told her beloved father disappeared overboard sometime during the previous night and is presumed dead. Eliza is devastated, and when the local constabulary immediately places blame upon one of her father’s most loyal divers, Eliza sets out to prove the man’s innocence, and learn the truth about her father’s fate.
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