I was asked to review this book by NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book, this was well written by the author lizzie Pook and evoked a good sense of place (set in Australia) and time ( during the late Victorian times). This highlight the dangers of the peal divers at this time as well as being a feminist novel with the main character - Eliza who is a strong indepaendant woman trying to get to the truth about her father and his pearling business, who is " mising at sea" - what happened to him - Eliza vows to find out.

A really well researched novel and beautifully written novel.

It had a really good backbone to be a good story, the friendships were lovely and the characters were interesting. It just could have done with being more fleshed out and more detail to really put you in the story. And more of the plot twists earlier on to grip people - came too late on for me. And enjoyable read and loved learning the back story.

I'm so sorry, somehow this book review got totally overlooked. I read it AGES ago and absolutley loved it. Currently enjoying Lizzie's second book! Aplogies for missing the review.

This historical fiction is set in Australia. The writing was very overwritten and I felt disappointed by it. I was expecting so much more

I really liked the historical detail in this book, it was obviously well researched and a topic I knew nothing about. Sadly I found the plot harder to like and difficult to get to know the characters
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for a copy of this book

Wonderful and breathtaking. Stories of family and the risks you would take to preserve that family. Could not put this down.

I enjoyed the descriptions of colonial Australia more than the storyline sadly. It was an ok read but the descriptions were better.

Absolutely fascinating story about a subject I know very little about which first attracted to this book. I was hooked from the first chapter. This was so well researched. What a debut novel. I will look forward to more by this author

An atmospheric and stylised historical mystery set in colonial Australia. This was a hard novel for me to get into although the historical detail was excellent and well.researched.

This was a very interesting book about an aspect of Australian historical fiction that I knew nothing about: the industry of pearling and its community- the abuse of aboriginal freedom, labour and treatment is a backdrop to this context. I actually thought the storyline was a little weak, but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole atmosphere and new knowledge afforded me. Features of the time and place were evocative. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

On the whole, this was an enjoyable book. A historical-fiction, mystery led by a strong, independent women intent on making her way in a world that wants her to stay in her place.

The setting is vibrant: an Australian convict town, somewhat transformed by the pearl business. I could truly see the places we explored and loved that Pook highlighted the treatment of Aboriginal peoples. We get a fairly diverse cast of background characters that can be frustrating, detestable and charming. It was this that kept me reading - as opposed to the plot.

I found that the ending let it down somewhat - the conclusion to the mystery felt like a huge let down. Things were wrapped up just that little bit too perfectly; particularly with the engagement that ends the book. This brought my rating down a little as it just did’t feel true to the characters I’d grown to love.

I really enjoyed the glimpses into the dangers of the pearl diving industry in 19th-century Australia. It’s something I knew nothing about and it’s clearly been so well researched.

The depth of research was also evident in the vivid descriptions of the land and what life was like under British colonial rule. It’s a gritty read and quite dark in places as the author doesn’t hesitate in showing the reader the brutalities and dangers of living in Bannin Bay. Lizzie Pook highlights how the Aboriginals were exploited, enslaved, and abused. It was really difficult to read in places but I understand the author’s need to be factual.

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.

I did feel that perhaps the focus on the descriptions and the author’s desire to stay true to the historical facts came at a detriment to character development. The supporting characters including Axel and her brother were underwhelming and undeveloped.

You can read my full review at: https://mmbbookblog.com/moonlight-and-the-pearlers-daughter-by-lizzie-pook-review/

Eliza is the Pearler’s daughter and she is this books heart-beat.
In 1886 she moves, along with her brother Thomas and their parents, from London to the pearl fishing settlement of Bannin Bay in Australia. Fast forward ten years and this is where the majority of the story takes place. By this time, with her mother dead a few years earlier, Eliza is a young woman left alone in Bannin Bay while her father and her brother work at sea on the pearl lugger that is the centre of the family business.
When all the other luggers return to shore without sign White Starling Eliza fears the worst. The ship eventually returns to shore but without her father on board. According to her brother, their father just disappeared overboard and is presumed dead. Under pressure to keep the family business afloat Thomas goes to a nearby town to sell the catch.
When Eliza discovers that Aboriginal crewman is presumed guilty and is on the run, sure that he can’t be the culprit she is determined to clear his name. Will she be able to find the truth before the law catch up with him.
There are places in Bannin Bay that Eliza cannot enter without a man so she engages a German itinerant worker, Axel Kramer to be her escort. With him, she has access to all the places that would have been barred to her as a woman alone and she can ask her questions.
Is her father really alive as she believes he is and where on earth should she look for him?
I really enjoyed this story. I liked feisty, unconventional Eliza, a woman refusing to bow down to convention and not afraid to be who she really is. There are vivid descriptions of the harsh life in a pearling village but that serves to make the book feel authentic.
Many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A transporting feminist adventure story based on Lizzie Pook’s deep research into the pearling industry and the era of British colonial rule in Australia, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is ultimately about the lengths one woman will travel to save her family

A stunning, and evocative historical novel set in Australia in the late 1800s. I just couldn't put it down. You can see Lizzie has done extensive research and really brought to life the pearl industry of the late 1800's and created a compelling mystery that keeps you reading. Recommended!

I loved this book.It has a strong female character,Eliza Brightwell,and beautifully written descriptions of the landscape and seascape,flora and fauna of Western Australia,a place I’ve never been but now feel as if I have.
It’s about the trade in pearls and mother of pearl,set in the late 19th century.Eliza’s father is one of the most successful pearl boat owners but when he vanishes from his boat in mysterious circumstances,a murder investigation is launched and one of the Aboriginal pearl divers is accused.Eliza is convinced her father is alive, and helped by her friend Laura Min and her companion Axel,she sets off to find out what happened to him.
The book doesn’t hide the mistreatment of the native Australians and the pearl divers by the colonial police and politicians and some of it makes difficult reading.However, it’s carefully plotted and held my attention throughout,and I enjoyed it immensely.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.

This was a hard book to read. I felt the characters were nearly impossible to like. The misogyny (while probably accurate), and the racism that is, combined with the over wrought and heavy writing style, means it was all a bit much. I'm glad to have had a copy though as I think Pook has a real talent if she can rein in her style.

A fascinating read about the pearl diving industry. It was beautifully written and well researched. I loved Eliza's determination to find out what happened to her father. It was touching and a compelling mystery. I loved the description of the localities which made for a very interesting read. An excellent debut novel.

‘Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter,’ the debut historical mystery by Lizzie Pook, is a surprise, full of twists and turns with a determined female lead character who defies 19th century conventions to find the murderer of her father.
The gritty, sometimes disgusting descriptions of the pearler’s living conditions are vivid and not for the faint-hearted. Set in an 1896 at Bannin Bay, a poor Australian pearl fishing settlement on the edge of the coast, the settlers are surrounded by indigenous people and their lands. When her father’s pearling lugger, the White Starling, returns from a long sea trip without him, Eliza Brightwell is told her father Charles disappeared from his boat overnight and is assumed drowned. Her brother Thomas, under pressure to keep the family business out debt, departs immediately to the nearby town of Cossack to sell his catch to traders. Alone, Eliza refuses to accept her father is dead but when she asks questions, is advised to accept the inevitable.
This is a raw town of crime, racism, jealousy, blackmail and abuse. A detailed examination of the available facts, and a mysterious note she finds in her father’s diary, lead Eliza to places she cannot go. Fettered by conventions of the time, Eliza soon realises she needs a male companion to enter the disreputable parts of town. An outsider herself she chooses another outsider, German itinerant worker Axel Kramer, to help her. He can gain admittance to places where she should not be seen or is barred from entering. Alternating with Eliza’s investigations are two other passages – the hunt for Aboriginal crewman Balarri who is automatically assumed guilty of murder, and passages from her father’s diary in which he writes nature observations and notes about his pearl shelling business.
The murder story takes place in 1896 but we also see flashbacks ten years earlier to 1886 when the Brightwell family – Eliza, her parents and brother, plus Uncle Willem and Aunt Martha – arrive in Bannin Bay from England, planning to become wealthy fishers of pearl shell. Pook places clues everywhere so don’t ignore these shorter sections.
I didn’t settle into this story until the second half. The first part establishes the setting – the village of Bannin Bay – with such gritty realism that the descriptions of the climate, mould, insects, smells and unpleasant people dominated everything else. There are also intricate descriptions of the industry of pearl fishing. This meant I was slow to connect with Eliza, other than that she is unconventional. But when she and Axel take a lugger to search the remote islands beyond Bannin Bay, to the Lucettes, Cockatoos, Rosellas and Nevermores, the story becomes more dynamic. Moving the action away from smelly Bannin adds air to story and removes conventions from Eliza and Axel. Knife, their young crewman, is also an intriguing character who is under-used.
This is a complex and ambitious story for a debut and Pook is an author worth watching. It’s a pity that at times the story felt weighed down by Australian history and the treatment of the indigenous population. The book is clearly founded on solid historical research but at times it felt that the pace of the story and the characterisation suffered in need of a lighter hand with research.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

This is my first time reading Australian historical fiction. It's set in the latter half of 19th century starring the eponymous pearler's daughter Eliza Brightwell. About a missing father lost at sea, a strong independent twenty year old lady; about the oppressive seascape, cruelty towards indigenous people, racism.