Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook was an intriguing novel of the coast of Australia in the late 1800’s. Eliza’s parents and brother, as well as her aunt and uncle had arrived to find their fortunes as pearl diving. By ten years later her father and brother had a small fleet of vessels, using mostly native workers. Her uncle was paid a portion of the profits as he had had accident and lost his leg several years before. As the novel starts, the fleet is set to return that day and Eliza is on the dock waiting. She spent the day there and still, nothing. Finally it arrived, but Elisa was told her father had died. In fact, he had just disappeared and there was no trace of him. Of the deck of a boat? Almost immediately a native was arrested by the local constable, a contemptible man named Parker, who had a truly odious back story. Eliza refused to believe her father was dead or that this man had killed him. So began her search for the truth.

This was a thoroughly researched novel, which held nothing back, including the horrors perpetrated on the natives and other people of color by the handful of white overlords. It was a hard way to earn a living and there was plenty of dishonesty. Much of their money was earned by harvesting the pearl-like interiors of the shells, used in the greater world as jewelry, gun handles, etc.-mother of pearl. As a woman, Eliza was on the same level as the natives. There were many places she was not allowed to go and people took no notice of the things she said. She was not particularly beautiful so she didn’t even have that. She was very intelligent and never forgot the things she had learned. She found a partner for her investigations in a German drifter named Abel and they worked to learn the truth. Eliza, like her father, was a naturalist and so able to discern information from the wilderness. I did have a little trouble getting pulled into it. It was an intriguing story.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Simon and Schuster, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #simonandschuster #lizziepook #moonlightandthepearlersdaughter

Historical fiction with a bit of mystery. Set in the late 19th century, Eliza is the Pearler's Daughter, and her father has disappeared. After returning from months out to sea, no one had answers to what has happened, an innocent man is being accused of a crime, and Eliza decides it is up to her to find her dad, dead or alive.

Atmospheric and engrossing. The author does a fantastic job of bringing the reader into the world of pearl diving and the seedy underbelly of what happens when shady folks get involved.

I enjoyed Eliza and her fierce nature. The story was good, nice balance of plot and character. The metaphorical writing was a bit much for me. That's just a preference issue though and doesn't distract from the ability of the author.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

Late 1800s Australia was a very unique setting for this historical fiction book which I loved. However, the book was not really my style. I am a reader that needs lots of dialogue to progress the plot and make me feel connection to the characters. Moonlight and the Pearler’s daughter is very heavy on details and descriptions, which was great for setting the scene, but left me feeling weighed down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The setting on the west coast of Australia in the 1800s is really a main character of this novel. The author does an amazing job of describing the harsh interior of the country, the plant and animal life on both land and in the ocean, and the weather that controls so much of life. The main character is a young woman who knows her own mind and really is confident in her pursuit of her beliefs, perhaps a bit more than I found believable. This is a story of family and loyalty with a big helping of pearl diving history.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

If you love historical fiction that paints vivid landscapes and details in its description this is for you! I only like this sort of book via audiobook otherwise I find myself getting distracted because there isn't much of a quick-paced plot. Something else I didn't love was that there seemed to be a lack of transition between chapters, it got better as the book went on but just didn't flow very well in my opinion.

Note: I got the audiobook to finish out what I hadn't read yet, and it was much easier to picture the descriptions like a movie for me.

Thank you again to NetGalley and for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter was a richly atmospheric novel set in the bush of Western Australia. I loved this book and the setting was unique and beautiful. My favorite parts were the descriptions of the wilderness and wildlife on remote islands in Australia. It was also really intriguing to learn about the pearling industry which is not something I was previously familiar with. The novel is historical fiction, but the author included a very informative historical note at the end of the book which really added to the story and explained the industry a little more. I look forward to reading more from this author!

The cover, title, and description of this book intrigued me, and Lizzie Pook's writing is descriptive and atmospheric. However, the bleakness of the narrative was too much for me, and I ended up skimming to follow the plot. This was a tough read for me. However, I would recommend this for anyone who loves historical fiction and gritty writing. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

As historical fiction, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter provides a believable background into pearling in Western Australia in the late 1800s. Other than that, you have to suspend disbelief for most of the story. The mystery that Eliza is determined to find answers to (the disappearance of her father from his pearling lugger) seems a bit beyond the skills of this 20-year-old shielded woman living in a male dominated society. There is no indication that she has ever been outside the protection of her father nor that she has actually sailed on a lugger in any capacity prior to her father’s disappearance.

Other than Eliza (and to some extent, Axel), there is little depth to the characters. The pacing is slow and did not sustain my interest until I got to the point where Eliza, Axel, and Knife begin their actual search. I was disappointed in the ending as it leaves a lot of unresolved loose ends while other plotlines are rather too conveniently brought to a conclusion. All-in-all, I was dissatisfied with how this mystery played out. In my opinion, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is not in the same category as The Light Between Oceans and The Island of Sea Women, despite the publisher's blurb.

I tried multiple time to read this book and ended up DNFing it at 68%. Which is very late in a book for me to give up. I just did not care at all what happened. I did not feel engaged in the characters or the story.

A captivating historical novel from down under. Pook explores the Pearl diving industry in Australia during the last part of the nineteenth century. This is a topic that I have not read that much about so I found the subject matter an enlightening read.
The writing flowed well and although at times the narrative was a bit slow in spots, it carried well.
The author’s historical note at the end helped fill in some informational gaps.

"Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter" by Lizzie Pook is an extraordinary work of historical fiction about a time period and subject about which I previously knew nothing. Set in the late 1800s in Australia, the story follows Eliza Brightwell as she searches for her father who is believed to be dead. Eliza is a strong woman character who refuses to let her gender hold her back from discovering the truth about her father. During her quest, Eliza discovers the dark underbelly of Australia's peal industry, including violence, corruption, greed, and rampant racism toward native peoples.

The writing in this debut novel is very good. The story flows along at a good pace and kept me engaged and entertained. I became so invested in Eliza's story, that I was sad to see it end. The author's descriptive writing made the characters and setting come alive to me and I became completely immersed in Eliza's world. Eliza is a wonderful character that makes a reader cheer her on. I highly recommend this novel to both readers who love an engrossing historical fiction novel and those who love a strong female protagonist.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this tremendous debut in exchange for my honest review.

I have now read 2 historical fiction books with different settings and periods that I have not read before and I love them. The book was very fast-paced and descriptive, I could feel each setting described beautifully. We get to see how the author incorporates themes such as the racism against aboriginals and the cruelties of the pearl diving business. I loved that the story did not go with the obvious romance and of course, our protagonist was smart, strong, and determined, she knew from the beginning that her father was not dead and she did not give up. I felt that the end was a little rushed and resolved itself too easily but I enjoyed the ride to the ending, it was excellent.

As a big fan of both historical fiction and mysteries I had hoped this would be right up my alley- and unfortunately, it wasn’t. I struggled to connect with the characters and really get into this. It felt a bit formulaic to me. I did enjoy the journal entries as an alternative story telling mechanism. It just didn’t hit the mark for me.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the e arc! This has everything I admire in a historical fiction. It packs mystery, family drama, in a setting that I am unfamiliar with. Yet, I couldn’t connect with the characters and the pacing wasn’t working for me :/

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook
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Eliza Brightwell is the daughter of a pearler in Bannin Bay, Australia. When her father is lost on his recent pearling voyage, she sets out to find what has become of him.
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What I liked:
-I always enjoy when a book is in a place and time in the world I do not know much about. It is always interesting to learn more about different places and time periods. I know next to nothing about the West coast of Australia so I enjoyed the new things I learned about that part of the world.
-The mystery of Eliza’s missing father was intriguing and I did want to know what happened to him.
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What I didn’t like:
-I wanted more bonding between Eliza and her companions in the story. I did not get the sense of friendship or closeness between them that I wanted to get.
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3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was good but not great. Thank you Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this digital copy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Publishing, and Lizzie Polk for allowing me to read the ARC of Moonlight And The Pearler’s Daughter for an honest review.

Living with her father, Charles, in Western Australia, 1886, twenty-year-old Eliza Brightwell finds out that her quaint little pearling town, isn’t as safe as she thought. Her father and his new pearling fleet didn’t return with the rest of the fleets. Presumed dead, there was no interest in pursuing his disappearance, except by Eliza, who knew in her heart that her father was out there waiting to be found.

Finding her father, will be no easy task for a single young woman in a world of men, who aren’t always as upright as they pretend to be. She is blesssed with support of her friends, Min, and Axel, who believe in her. We meet a woman beyond her times, determined to accomplish her goals, not afraid of being a women, and plunging right into what matters most to her.

Not knowing a lot about the pearling industry, this book was interesting and I learned a lot about how Aboriginals were captured to search for pearls, a very dangerous job. I applauded Eliza for standing up for her beliefs and not letting being a woman hold her back from her goals. This book is exciting, informative, and inspirational.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free book.
I’ve seen so many great reviews for this book, and I feel like it should’ve worked for me - it has everything I love in a historical fiction. It had mystery, family drama, and a well-defined setting that is unknown to me. However, I struggled with the pacing. I felt like the author focused so much on making her writing beautiful that her characters and plots missed the mark for me. I wanted more from this story.

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: 6.14.22

A fevered atmospheric novel about a woman's search for truth. Set in 1896 Bannin Bay, Australia, it's the story about what happens when Eliza Brightwell's father goes missing in the night from his pearling lugger. Her brother Thomas, who was on the vessel, can offer no explanation and his aboriginal employee Billy Bahaari is arrested for murder but then escapes. St. Parker, a cruel policemen, chases Billy, whose thoughts appear periodically. Eliza sets off to find her father, touring through the deep underside of the pearling industry, a business filled with death and corruption. Along the way she meets Axel, a German who helps her, as does her childhood friend Min, now working as a prostitute. This moves back and forth between 1896 and 1886 when the Brightwells arrived in Australia. A tough transition made more difficult by tragedy that isn't revealed until later. Eliza's search seems improbable, given the time and the vastness of the ocean, but she persists. Her father's diary entries offer some explanations and insights (and is fascinating in and of itself) but there's something missing. I learned a great deal from this - won't ever look at mother of pearl the same way among other things- but this is notable for the incredible atmospherics and the suspenseful plot. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. An incredible debut.

I'm really trying, but I just cannot connect with this book. Maybe it's not "my time" to read it? The story seems very interesting, its just a little too slow for my tastes.