Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Pook’s writing is reliably vivid, alternating between dense lyricism and free indirect speech with an old-timey diction. She needs and wants no man but does accept the help of a young touring German because it takes a man to get into places that a woman isn't allowed. stars: Author Lizzie Pook has written a beautifully atmospheric story of the perilous lives of pearl divers in Western Australia during the late 1800’s.
Her friend Min helped while a new friend, Axel, stayed by Eliza’s side, support and comfort in his manner. The vessel is one of the last to come in and she soon learns from her brother that their father has disappeared. To sum up, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter has to be picked up for the historical setting and glimpse into the lives of pearl divers. 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. Those who know him know he has never told a lie in his life—“Never be the one to tell lies, Nico,” his grandfather teaches him.Set in the harsh, unforgiving land that is outback Western Australia, the constant heat, flies and any number of other insects and things that bite, the reality was vivid. 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. 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. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but this one appealed because it is set in a time and place that I don’t know a lot about. I just wish there was more than one of those instances but honestly it’s just me nitpicking right now).
The society ladies of Bannin cling to a puritanism, although their setting renders such primness absurd. 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. 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.
This is an outstanding debut novel that will capture the hearts of many readers, especially those who love historical fiction. I found myself completely immersed in the rich, atmospheric, and riveting storytelling, in the time and place, the twists and turns, the vibrant and unflinching portrayal of the corruption, deceptions, blackmail, and violence that underpin the Bannin Bay community and the pearling business, the criminal underbelly, and the numerous unsavoury individuals. The ocean: what riches lie in wait for those bold enough to take the risk, to be so reckless surely must come with it’s fair share of rewards for the foolhardy, yet you must be willing to sacrifice everything you hold dear should you want to gain that which so many have risked themselves for. The story then shifts to 1890s when the reader finds out that Charles has gone missing from the logger during a recent pearling expedition.
Great Deal 
New Comment