Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter: An Atmospheric Historical Mystery With a Courageous Heroine Intent on the Truth

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Lizzie Pook's rich and evocative prose captures the heat, the wildlife and the industry of this pearling town, transporting the reader back in time.

Eliza’s single-minded drive to save her family because of tragedy in her past feels familiar, and it doesn’t allow Eliza’s character to develop over the course of the book; her romantic relationship with a pearler named Axel barely registers. I question whether the fact that I listened to the story, rather than read it, may have contributed to the adventure piece falling flat. Pook does provide some general insight into the industry, and thoughtfully acknowledges the appalling treatment of First Nations people by the white settlers of the area. 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.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. They land in 1886 on the blood-red sands of Bannin Bay, a fictional stand-in for Broome — and like the real town, simultaneously cosmopolitan and isolated, over a thousand miles from the region’s capital. 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. Lizzie began her career in women’s magazines, covering everything from feminist motorcycle gangs to conspiracy theorists, before moving into travel writing, contributing to publications including Condé Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet and the Sunday Times. Eliza is devastated, and when the local constabulary immediately places blame upon one of her father’s most loyal divers, Eliza sets out to prove the man’s innocence, and learn the truth about her father’s fate.

But in a town teeming with corruption, prejudice and blackmail, Eliza soon learns that the truth can cost more than pearls, and she must decide just how much she is willing to pay – and how far she is willing to go – to find it . Narrating the story is the Angel of Truth, whom according to a parable God had cast out of heaven and onto earth, where Truth shattered into billions of pieces, each to lodge in a human heart. 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. However the opinions of most other people are not something that is likely to sway Eliza so she follows any clues she can.Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Aussie author Lizzie Pook is a historical fiction set in Western Australia in 1886.

When Eliza's father doesn't come back from the last pearling expedition and her brother can't tell her what happened to him, she is determined to find him.

This story focuses on Eliza Brightwell,, daughter of Charles, who fled England with his family to join his brother in the Pearling business. Through her bravery she not only finds the answer to her father disappearance, but she also uncovers a lot of secrets and corruption on the Bay. Eliza Brightwell is a capable young girl, forced to move to Australia to support her family's pearling business, 10 years later her father's ship comes back without him leaving Eliza alone to figure out what happened.