Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter is a wonderful debut that drew me in from the very beginning. Set in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century, this is one of those books that I loved not just for its characters and plot, but also for the setting and the chance to learn something new.

Eliza was a really compelling main character, with her fierce devotion to her family and the steely determination allowing her to keep rising up in the face of adversity and to continue pushing on in her quest to find her father. She is complex and flawed and ready to fight hard for her space in a world that doesn't really consider women all that much. The rest of the characters felt a bit flat by comparison, but Eliza is the centre of the show so it didn't really bother me all that much overall.

The setting and the historical period stole the spotlight a little, as they were both drawn in amazing detail. I was rather ignorant of the whole pearling business, so this was an excellent chance to be introduced to it and learn something new! I particularly appreciated how the author acknowledged native people and the harm caused to them by settlers. I felt like I also had a clear sense of social structures by the end of the book, and characters' choices and behaviours mostly made sense within those.

Eliza's search for her father pretty much takes up the whole book, and my enjoyment of it definitely came more from the setting and historical traits than from the plot itself. There were a few chapters set in the past, at the time of the Brightwell family's arrival in Bannin Bay, which I hoped would continue throughout, but they were limited and the majority of the action took place at the time of Eliza's father's disappearance. This still made for an interesting read, but as it progressed it was at times not quite as engrossing as I'd have liked. I found the resolution slightly underwhelming, but that's just personal taste! I really enjoyed seeing Eliza come into her own by the end of the book so that made up for any other minor disappointment.

Overall, this is a really great read and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of Lizzie Pook's work in the future!


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher as part of the blog tour organised by Random Things Tours. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

Difficult book - interesting story laden with history. Particularly informative and a realistic rendering of the time and place - Western Australia, 1886. A harsh place, a difficult time, especially for women. A dangerous place, a deadly career for men. Difficult book -top heavy with descriptive prose which at times made my skin crawl, at times just felt like it was trying too hard, at times was probably just too much for what it was trying to describe - but some of it was good, really good. Difficult book - trying to understand the vernacular and relate it to the words and the meaning and the dialogue. Difficult book - telling a story while exploring the question of whether you can “chase wealth so furiously” while putting men in grave danger and still be considered good. Stripped down to the basics - girl loves her father - the father goes missing - the girl will literally move heaven and earth to find her father - journey on and on and on.

I was exhausted by the weather, hot, so hot without relief, breathless. I was terrified by the creatures, large and small, creepy crawlies of the land, horrors of the water. I was confused by the characters and the parts they played and their interactions and explanations. It was all a little too much and too little at the same time. Despite all that it was a good book.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy. ( )

Vividly descriptive writing kept me mesmerized and turning pages! It was an unexpected pleasure to be transported into another world as a young woman stands up to threats from man and nature in this debut novel. Author Lizzie Pook’s career as a travel writer translated beautifully to her novel set in late 19th c Australia’s pearling industry. Her pen brought this world to life: you can feel the heat, the insects bites, the rain that soaks through your clothes.

Eliza Brightwell is a fabulous character, unconventional and courageous, yet bearing the physical and mental scars of a horrendous loss. When she was a girl, her family immigrated to Australia for the lucrative pearling business. Oyster shells were sourced for button making–the rare find of a pearl bringing additional wealth. Now grown, her mother gone, her brother returns home without her father. He has disappeared. A man is accused of murdering him. Eliza is convinced her father is still alive, and she is determined to find him.

The town with its enclave of Europeans rule the natives and multinational communities at the bottom of society. Eliza is her own woman, an outlier unwilling to conform to their expectations. With native intelligence and grit, and her father’s diary to guide her, Eliza inspires a drifter to help her in her quest. Alex is taken by her beautiful spirit.

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction, strong female characters, mystery, and adventure. I was delighted by the ‘adventure’ aspect. A hurricane scene was particularly well written. I was reminded of a book I loved as a girl about the daughter of a ship’s captain and her adventures across the Southern Pacific.

I received a free ARC thanks to #bookClubFavorites and #Simon&Schuster. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is an atmospheric historical fiction debut from Lizzie Pook.

Set 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.

With the early history of Australia’s pearling industry as a backdrop, Pook presents a story of mystery and adventure with a touch romance. It’s the disappearance of Charles Brightwell that dominates the plot as Eliza searches for information that will explain it, joined by Axel, a young German dry-sheller who offers Eliza his company. The quest leads the pair into a number of dangerous situations, including a harrowing sea journey on a lugger called Moonlight through shark and crocodile infested waters, providing some tense action and excitement. I’d guessed where the blame would ultimately fall, though not some of the reactions to it.

Eliza’s devotion to her family, despite the many flaws of Charles and Thomas, explains why she refuses to give up. An appealing heroine, it’s a little unlikely Eliza would be quite as capable as she seems to be in a couple of scenes for a young woman of her status during the time period, but her determination and daring is admirable.

It’s not exactly clear why Axel volunteers to accompany Eliza, other than he is a decent young man who seems to have admired Eliza from afar. Pook provides his character with an interesting background, but he felt somewhat underdeveloped.

Where the author excels with her vivid descriptions of the dry Kimberly landscape, the community’s streets and residents, and the changing conditions of the sea, effortlessly evoking harsh heat, salt air and crashing waves. Though I could clearly visualise Eliza’s environment, I would have liked to learn more about the daily operations of a pearling fleet. Pook does provide some general insight into the industry, and thoughtfully acknowledges the appalling treatment of First Nations people by the white settlers of the area.

Though I wasn’t wholly captivated by Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter, it is a solid debut, with a lot to recommend it. ( )

Bloody good story. I have sailed and explored up around that way ages ago and the writing flooded back memories of the coast, the weather and the history. If you have read any of Ion Idriess’s books “Outlaws of the Leopold’s”, “40 Fathoms Deep” you will enjoy this.
Eliza the socially unacceptable main characters, who came to the Kimberly frontier pearling town as a child with her extended family in the late 1880’s, now in her 20’s – has to cope with mysterious non-return of her father from sea. The pearling lugger captain was the apple of her eye and while trying to discover his wear-a-bouts she soon learns the people of the fictional town of Bannin Bay and her family hold many secrets.
Well worth the time to read. ( )