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A review by kimreadsandrambles
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook
4.0
Do not read this if you are easily frightened by creepy crawlies or things big enough to swallow you whole! Just kidding. But this is set in Australia, and we have a whole lotta fauna that will kill you. And the author has picked some of the fun ones to describe in perfect clarity! Pook also captures the harshness of Australia, especially back in the 1800’s when people from all over the world were flocking to our shores in search of fortune.
Although this is a fictional story set in a fictional pearling town in Western Australia, the author has also captured the pure disgustingness (is that a word?) of how our traditional landowners were treated by white settlers. Still makes my skin crawl and my blood boil to read the treatment by some characters. I was also reminded that even during the most despicable part of our history there would have been some kindness from those who also disagreed with the view of many that it was “ok” to treat people the way they did.
That ending - how did I not pick up on that? I truly believed the tale set by some characters, and was not expecting the twist that came. I mean, in hindsight she was a bitch, and there was something off about her the whole time, but what the!
At first I didn’t think I’d like this - it started off a bit meh, but right where you might go “I’m done”, it takes a turn. And I just had to know how it ended! The writing is easy to read, flows nicely, but the descriptions of the places, the people, the animals are poetic - makes you want to google it and realise with horror that yes, redback spiders ARE as terrifying and horrible as described! (They are - I live in this beautiful, at times frightening country, and I can say hand on heart the spiders here will kill your heart just by looking at them).
Although this is a fictional story set in a fictional pearling town in Western Australia, the author has also captured the pure disgustingness (is that a word?) of how our traditional landowners were treated by white settlers. Still makes my skin crawl and my blood boil to read the treatment by some characters. I was also reminded that even during the most despicable part of our history there would have been some kindness from those who also disagreed with the view of many that it was “ok” to treat people the way they did.
That ending - how did I not pick up on that? I truly believed the tale set by some characters, and was not expecting the twist that came. I mean, in hindsight she was a bitch, and there was something off about her the whole time, but what the!
At first I didn’t think I’d like this - it started off a bit meh, but right where you might go “I’m done”, it takes a turn. And I just had to know how it ended! The writing is easy to read, flows nicely, but the descriptions of the places, the people, the animals are poetic - makes you want to google it and realise with horror that yes, redback spiders ARE as terrifying and horrible as described! (They are - I live in this beautiful, at times frightening country, and I can say hand on heart the spiders here will kill your heart just by looking at them).