On the face of it this could be a great story.about an unusual slice of history. I love learning more about social history and events so for that reason I found it fascinating. However this is also a story with a mystery to be solved and that brings another focus to the book. Eliza is a strong character but not hugely likable so be prepared for a rough ride with her. This is a gritty book with much tragedy. Not cosy but an interesting read overall if a bit drawn out.

A dazzling, engaging novel with a dark underbelly in 19th century Australia. I loved the setting, not just for the gorgeous descriptive writing but also the brutal honesty. Pook doesn't shy away from the reality of how indigenous peoples were treated by white settlers, the racism, misogyny, and ever present danger.

The journey Eliza embarks upon to find her missing father is what kept me gripped. The writing is incredible, the setting so powerfully evoked.

In this novel, we find ourselves in Western Australia in 1886. Eliza Brightwell has been living with her family at Bannin Bay since their arrival when she was ten years old.

Ten years later, and Eliza’s eccentric father has become a successful and respected captain of a pearl-diving boat. When the boat returns after months at sea – without Eliza’s father on it – there are rumours of both mutiny and murder. Eliza knows that it’s up to her to discover who, or what, is really responsible.

As she searches for the truth, Eliza leads below the glamorous veneer of the pearling industry, and into it’s dark underbelly. This is a world of corruption, prejudice and blackmail.

‘Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter’ is a feminist adventure story based in the era of British colonial rule in Australia. I was both delighted and appalled, in equal measures, by the well-researched depiction of this world of pearling which was previously unknown to me.

Eliza is a strong female lead, and readers will enjoy watching her battle against the misogyny and corruption in order to find the answers that she needs. I think that there may well be a sequel here – I’d love to see Eliza battle again in the future.

‘Moonlight and Pearler’s Daughter’ is published on 3rd March 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley UK, Pan MacMillan, Mantle and the author for this ARC in return for my honest review.

I am sorry to report that I didn't finish this book. I just couldn't get on with the story and I didn't take to any of the characters.

I wanted to like this book, and in parts I did, but for me it just seemed a bit slow, right in the middle of the story. Eliza is an immigrant in the late 19th Century, whose father is a pearler. He goes missing, and she is determined to find out if he's dead or alive. I did read the whole book, and some of it was quite gripping, especially when they were battling waves and storms heading for the islands, but for me, it didn't really grab me. Interesting subject and location, but too many slow bits.

I’ve tried to enjoy this book but sadly it just doesn’t seem to flow for me.

The writing is excellent but I’m struggling with the story, it hasn’t made me want to read more

Many apologies for not being able to continue.

Hmmm…..I wasn’t enamoured with this one to be honest. I can’t put my finger on why, I think it was just a bit slow, it just couldn’t hold my interest. I didn’t like the main character, or anyone really.

I was just left underwhelmed.

Sorry!

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Not going to lie the cover got me for this one and made me pick it up. It wasn’t something I would normally read but was excited for the ride.

The story tells of Eliza and her family who have moved from England to Australia in the late 19th Century. Her father is a well known pearler. One day, however her father doesn’t return and Eliza sets out to solve the mystery of what has happened to him and to save the day.

This book really shows the dark underbelly of business and the patriarchy, the way that migrants treated other cultures and natives. It also vividly shows the geographical and nature of the area. The description, although sometimes too much, was great at allowing me to imagine the sweltering heat, the outback and the different landscapes of the area.

I found this book was quiet slow paced at the beginning, the first half of the book felt really dragged out and I struggled to want to keep reading on despite the very good description. After the 50% mark I started to enjoy the story, the adventure side came in and it all started to feel a bit more fast paced. I liked the character of Axel but didn’t like way they end his story. I did like Eliza’s independence and willing to draw her own path… I was forever angry at the men in this book (although Axel and Knife I did enjoy) but I think that was more the point. It’s a very stark and honest look at what life would have been back then. The author has obviously done thorough research into something I never knew anything about. It’s was a unique take on the historical fiction books and definitely made me learn about something completely new and read outside my comfort zone.

The map in the beginning of this book was sadly distorted.
I was hoping for a vibe similar to *The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock* and it delivered. The story revolves around Eliza Brightwell, the daughter of a prominent pearler in Western Australia in the 1890s searching for her missing father after he has been presumed dead. It feels a little like a historical *[Winter’s Bone](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399683/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)* with a *[The Nightingale](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4068576/)* twist.

A few trigger warnings before we start: this book is pretty brutal in places and describes a lot of racism that was certainly present in colonial Australia. This book *does* talk about the British colonial project that put the pearling industry into business and exploited Aboriginal Australians for profit, but I do wish there had been a deeper discussion. I did appreciate the author’s note on the racist practices in Australia as a whole and specifically in the pearling industry, such as the preference for “employing” pregnant Aboriginal women as pearl divers, supposedly because of their greater lung capacity. This briefly appears in the text of the book, but again is not explored as much as it could have been.

Eliza’s father, Charles, has an Aboriginal man, Balarri, employed aboard his pearling vessel who is immediately accused of Charles’ murder, even though Charles is simply missing. Some of the book is told from his perspective as he tries to hide in the Outback to escape the over zealous persecution of the local “law.” There is no evidence to connect him to this crime – nor is there much evidence that a crime has even taken place – but the local police hunt him down, regardless. I think this aspect of colonial racism is well-discussed and correctly represented.

Pook also discusses the race dynamics at play in Australia between the white settler establishment and East Asian communities. As a part of Eliza’s mission, she talks to merchants in Chinatown who had connections with her father and his business. These discussions correctly describe the anti-Asian racism that took place in real colonial Australia and elsewhere in the colonial sphere.

Eliza is a tenacious young lady who feels trapped by the gender norms or her time and the guilt of her past. Due to the social constraints of the 1890s, she teams up with a German traveler, Axel, to be her “chaperone” on her journey. They develop a strong friendship in the crucible of their terrifying adventure and both show incredible growth. What starts as a seemingly straightforward mystery of a possible shipwreck, turns into a winding chain of secrets and subterfuge with incredibly high stakes.

Another aspect I wish Pook had focused more time on in this story is Eliza’s disability. She has tinnitus (ringing in the ears) as a result of a childhood accident. It is referenced in the text often, but there is not a whole lot of talk about how this hearing disability affects her and her communication. I also have hearing loss and tinnitus and I have not seen a lot of representation of this kind of disability. Since Eliza’s arc in this book is questioning various people in connection with her father’s disappearance, it would make sense that her tinnitus would interfere with that, but that possible aspect of the story is under-discussed (in my opinion, at least).

I am being hard on this book only because I see Lizzie Pook’s potential and good intentions and I want her to continue to write great stories like *Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter* with a critical lens. I absolutely loved this book and found it compelling and well-written and will be looking forward to Pook’s future writing.

This is a wonderful debut from Pook. Moonlight and the Pearler's daughter is a historical novel set in Australia at the end of the 19th Century. It focuses on Eliza Brightwell, the intelligent daughter of a missing pearler. When her father doesn't come home from a routine yet dangerous trip to locate shells and pearls, Eliza is frustrated by the lack of effort made by the local men to try and find him. Eliza is determined to solve the mystery and will stop at nothing in order to discover what has become of the man she idolises. She is joined by Axel, a young German adventurer and the unlikely pair set off to find out what could have happened to Eliza's father.

Pook is really adept at bringing the myriad of wild and exotic wildlife alive in this book. The descriptions are rich and lush and allow you to feel as though you really have stepped back in time to a world that we'll never see the likes of again. She does not shy away from the harsh or harder aspects of living in outback Australia at the turn of the century. There's a wide variety of characters from many different backgrounds representing the varied cultures that were drawn to the area seeking wealth.

It's a great exploration of how difficult it was to navigate the social and natural world as a female in a world that most men struggled with. Eliza is strong to a fault; born before her time and frustrated with the weaknesses of the men in the world.

There were a few threads of the story that were still not tied up by the end of the story and I would have liked to have known the eventual fate of some of the minor characters in the novel. However, I really enjoyed the novel. It reminded me of 'Where the Crawdads sing' or 'Dangerous women'.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an arc of this fascinating novel.

Eliza Brightwell's father does not return with the pearler fleet one day, but she's convinced he is not dead. Her brother won't answer questions and goes away on business, her mother is dead and the town's society look down on Eliza for not conforming. Only the priest, a visiting German man, and Eliza's friend Min are willing to help her find out what happened and follow the clues her father has left her.

The book has a bit of a slow start, and the eponymous Moonlight doesn't come in until quite far through the novel - alongside Knife, the priest's young protege, as a deckhand. The book has plenty to say about the Aboriginal community and the treatment of any of the pearler crews who aren't white, as well as social commentary on the expectations of women, which adds to the sense of time and place in the book. There is also an element of romance, which didn't go where I was expecting it to. Overall I enjoyed the book, despite taking a while to get into it.

A great debut novel and a very well done work of historical fiction. I loved Eliza immediately and Pook does an excellent job of immersing the reader within the setting. I would definitely keep an eye out for her next books and recommend this book to any historical fiction lover! (I think I might need a physical edition of this book <3)

4/5 Cups of coffee from me! Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Others enjoyed this book enormously so I was looking forward to reading it. It was instantly obvious that the author had researched her subject meticulously and as a historical piece it stood up well. The background on the rather brutal pearl industry was fascinating.
However for me, I found myself trying to wade through all the descriptive stuff to find the characters and the actual story. Crammed full of adjectives which at times felt unnecessary, the characters apart from Eliza herself, seemed to fall a little flat and the story was slow to build.
The second half was better and moved at more of a pace, but then the ending seemed rushed. Given the slow start there were too many loose ends tied up too quickly, and as such it was all a bit unbelievable. For me the feminist in Eliza could have been an interesting angle if developed throughout, but we were only really presented with this aspect fully in the final pages. Similarly the ending left me disappointed in Axel who appeared not to have the depth I had expected and all seemed a little unlikely.
Having said all this I did finish it, and I think I would read more from this author as she hones her craft.

This is a very enjoyable historical fiction novel from debut author, Lizzie Pook. It centres around Eliza, a strong young woman whose father, a pearl shell fisherman has gone missing in very mysterious circumstances.

It was so refreshing to read a book set in a historical period that is not set a city in Edwardian or Victorian England. Instead of the usual setting of cold, dirty, smelly London, this new book is set in the hot, dirty, smelly town of Bannin on the north west coast of Australia. While Bannin itself is clearly made up, the atmosphere of the place really comes alive in the description of the town itself and its diverse cast of inhabitants. A really engrossing story and I am looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

Eliza is an immigrant from England. Now living on the coast of Australia, with her father and brother in the late 19th century. Her father is a Pearler. That is someone who brings up shells and pearls from the seabed. Life is hard but Eliza as a young women is bright, tough and enquiry.
Her father goes missing which starts an adventure with a young German man to find him. Is he dead or not.

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 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.

However, the Starling doesn't come in until late in the day, and her father is not on board, he has gone missing and the assumption is that he went overboard, although rumours abound of murder and mutiny. Eliza is unable to get any information from Thomas who rushes off to Cossack to ensure the survival of the business. However, Eliza does not believe Charlie is dead, and goes to visit the obnoxious and racist Sergeant Archibald Parker at the gaol, he has arrested the Aboriginal Billy Balarri, who could not have had anything to do with her missing father. However, Parker refuses to be budged, and with Billy escaping, sets off on horseback to find him. Interspersed in the narrative is Charlie's journal, from which Eliza seeks clues as to what might have happened. Events culminate in the revelation of family secrets that lead to Eliza sailing the Moonlight, Father McVeigh's lugger, with the German Axel Kramer and the aboriginal boy, Knife, as deckhand, facing storms, sharks and saltwater crocs, fearless in her determination to find her father.

Pook captures the historical period with her wonderful descriptive prose, shining a light on and capturing the horrors when it comes to the racist treatment of aboriginals that beggars belief, their never ending nightmare, enslaved, brutalised, murdered with impunity, families broken up, forced to become pearl divers and facing daily abuse and violence. Eliza is an early feminist, who knows her own mind, not swayed by others, she has no intention of following the cultural rules and behaviour expected of women, although she has her own demons, she is helped in her quest by her friend, Min, who has to do whatever it takes to survive. I found myself completely immersed in the rich, atmospheric, and riveting storytelling, in the time and place, the twists and turns, the vibrant and unflinching portrayal of the corruption, deceptions, blackmail, and violence that underpin the Bannin Bay community and the pearling business, the criminal underbelly, and the numerous unsavoury individuals.The author's novel is based on actual Aussie history, and many of her characters are inspired by real historical figures. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Pearls bring peril to a feisty heroine! A historical story set in Western Australia near the end of the 19th century intorduces us to young woman Eliza, whose father, a master pearler, has disappeared from his ship. Refusing to believe he is dead, Eliza sets out to find him, on a voyage fraught with danger not just from the elements but from her father's enemies.
This was a very atmospheric read. Life on the coastal town, with its mix of European immigrants and native Australians is portrayed vibrantly and realistically- beauty contrasts with ugliness, and the ever-present undercurrent of danger keeps you turning the pages.
Eliza is a heroine out of time, never constrained by the mores of the day that demand women know their place in society. She's not exactly a rebel, but she is determined to stick to her chosen path, even if that brings disapproval from her peers, and danger to herself. For she is also looking for atonement for past, perceived failings by averting a second family tragedy.
The prose shimmers like the pearls that are an integral part of the plot as we follow Eliza on her adventures, with sideroads describing the flora, fauna and sealife of Western Australia and the additional perils they pose. A very satisfying read.

I love historical fiction but for me this fell flat. Whilst it's beautifully written and meticulously researched, I personally didn't connect with the characters and the disappearance of Eliza's father with the possible involvement of monsters and pirates didn't hold me enough. 3 stars for the writing and research, it's just the story that wasn't for me.

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but this one appealed because it is set in a time and place that I don’t know a lot about. In 1886 Eliza Brightwell’s family - herself, her parents, her older brother Thomas, Uncle Willem and Aunt Martha set off from England to Bannin Bay in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia to start a pearling business. I did check but I don’t think it’s an actual place. However, the city of Broome in that area and was, and still is, a major pearling port. I have been to the Kimberley though and can imagine what sort of culture shock it would have been!

Business is good and the family is doing well. But in 1896 as Eliza (now 20 years old) awaits the return of her fathers ship, the Starling, it doesn’t appear until almost dark and, when it does, her father is not aboard. No one knows what happened but he disappeared during the night. Eliza is beside herself, she adored her father. She cannot even pester Thomas about it as he immediately heads off to another town saying he has business to attend to. Sergeant Palmer, a brutal man, arrests the first convenient Aboriginal who will no doubt hang for killing Mr Brightwell. Eliza knows he had nothing to do with it, he wasn’t even on the boat when Mr Brightwell disappeared. Palmer doesn’t listen but, in any case, the young man soon escapes from the jail and melts back into the unforgiving landscape. Palmer sets off after him on a fool’s errand. The natives know the land too well.

After no word for two weeks Eliza writes to Thomas but receives no reply. Not believing her father dead and determined to find him, Eliza along with two accomplices, heads off to find Thomas. I call them accomplices as they have quite an adventure. What a sorry tale Thomas tells her. I can’t tell you about it but it makes Eliza all the more determined to find her father - dead or alive!

This was a wonderful tale with sparkling characters, a huge landscape, a sometimes violent seascape and the usual terrible racial tensions. The pearling has attracted not only Englishmen but Malays, Chinamen, Manilamen (I’m using the language from the time) and others. The casual brutality towards the Indigenous people was shocking but, sadly, typical of the era. Many men were simply taken to undertake the dangerous underwater work. Not just men - pregnant women were especially prized as it was thought their blood carried more oxygen, which I guess it does.

The plot was wonderful and based on real life. The writing was beautiful and immersive, I could feel the heat and the ever present red dust. The pace was cracking and Eliza was very much her own woman - strong and fearless and loyal to a fault. She was not concerned about appearances or how an English ‘lady’ should comport herself. I really loved her character! Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Interesting setting for this historical fiction in Australia with the desperation of the pearl fishers. I loved the descriptions and the atmosphere but found the main mystery of what happened to the father a little lacking. Covers lots of issues here including race and gender.