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A review by pagespoursandpups
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook
5.0
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.
This story focuses on Eliza Brightwell,, daughter of Charles, who fled England with his family to join his brother in the Pearling business. He is smart, inventive and curious, albeit naive. He wants to see the best in people. He has taught Eliza to be so many of these things. Their relationship is full of mutual respect and love. We meet this family in the 1880s when they have first moved to Bannin Bay. The story then shifts to 1890s when the reader finds out that Charles has gone missing from the logger during a recent pearling expedition.
As Eliza searches for her father, who she can not believe has perished, she will need all the grit, persistence and courage she can summon. The pearling business was full of unsavory characters. Men only interested in money, and not at all concerned with the treatment of his those in his employ. I did not realize how dangerous the pearling was for the divers. The research done for this book was excellent. There were so many things I learned. I loved that Eliza was a strong female character. She relied on her gut and would not stop until she knew the truth. As she journeys into areas unknown, pieces of her history are revealed.
There were several unlikeable characters in this one. So many men whose lust for money overrode any sense of decency. I love when an author can make me feel strongly about characters. There were also several characters I was totally vested in, including Eliza, Min and Axel. Each one a multi-dimensional character. The first half of this book is a slow burn, describing the atmosphere of the town and about the pearling business. The second half picks up with more action and intrigue. The story contains several unexpected twists in the second half and has the reader flipping pages to see if Eliza has been searching in vain.
This was a very interesting and captivating historical fiction. I think many readers will enjoy this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy to read and review! Pub date: 6.07.22
This story focuses on Eliza Brightwell,, daughter of Charles, who fled England with his family to join his brother in the Pearling business. He is smart, inventive and curious, albeit naive. He wants to see the best in people. He has taught Eliza to be so many of these things. Their relationship is full of mutual respect and love. We meet this family in the 1880s when they have first moved to Bannin Bay. The story then shifts to 1890s when the reader finds out that Charles has gone missing from the logger during a recent pearling expedition.
As Eliza searches for her father, who she can not believe has perished, she will need all the grit, persistence and courage she can summon. The pearling business was full of unsavory characters. Men only interested in money, and not at all concerned with the treatment of his those in his employ. I did not realize how dangerous the pearling was for the divers. The research done for this book was excellent. There were so many things I learned. I loved that Eliza was a strong female character. She relied on her gut and would not stop until she knew the truth. As she journeys into areas unknown, pieces of her history are revealed.
There were several unlikeable characters in this one. So many men whose lust for money overrode any sense of decency. I love when an author can make me feel strongly about characters. There were also several characters I was totally vested in, including Eliza, Min and Axel. Each one a multi-dimensional character. The first half of this book is a slow burn, describing the atmosphere of the town and about the pearling business. The second half picks up with more action and intrigue. The story contains several unexpected twists in the second half and has the reader flipping pages to see if Eliza has been searching in vain.
This was a very interesting and captivating historical fiction. I think many readers will enjoy this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy to read and review! Pub date: 6.07.22