A review by joabroda
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook

2.5

It was slow, so very slow, dragging, not building on the protagonist, Eliza or  her partner in crime Alex. Eliza could have been a strong woman, it disappointed me she was not. The ending left too much open for the reader to untangle alone. 

In a new and different world, there was hardly any exploration of the native people. At first I thought it was me, not the book. I changed my mind.  This is not a far-fetch from the HF I normally love but there was too much missing. 

The book takes place in the 19th century in a brutal coastal town of Australia where pearling is one of the few ways to make a decent living. Eliza and her family arrive from London so her father can make his fortune.  Some years after their arrival the family boat returns without him and no one is saying what happened to him. Eliza sets out to uncover the truth.

The story was here, but the prose needed work, IMO. So slow. This is the author's first book, so the last 1/2 star is me giving her the benefit of the doubt. If this is her writing style, than the editors need to reign her in and they also need to re-classify where her books belong.