Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter
A Novel
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A young Englishwoman searches for the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father in this rich historical adventure novel set in the perilous world of the pearl diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia.
Everything has a price. And the truth may cost more than pearls...
As the pearling ships return to Bannin Bay after a long diving season, twenty-year-old Eliza Brightwell awaits the arrival of her father’s boat. But when his lugger finally limps in, it brings a tale of tragedy: Charles Brightwell, master pearler, has gone missing at sea.
Whispers from the townsfolk point to mutiny or murder. Headstrong Eliza knows it is up to her to find out who—or what—is responsible for her father’s disappearance. Searching for the truth, she delves beneath the glamorous veneer of the south sea pearling trade only to discover that the sun-scorched streets of Bannin Bay, a town she once thought she knew so well, are teeming with corruption, prejudice, and blackmail.
How far is Eliza willing to go to save the ones she loves? And what family secrets will come to haunt her along the way?
Set in a mesmerizing yet unforgiving place where both profit and peril lie deep beneath the ocean’s surface, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is an exquisite debut about a young woman’s quest to bring her father home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Pook's lush debut, a young woman investigates her father's disappearance in late-19th-century western Australia. After Charles Brightwell goes missing from his pearler ship, his 20-year-old headstrong daughter, Eliza, who has already lost her mother and younger brother, refuses to believe he's dead. When she learns that Balarri, Charles's right-hand man, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, she launches her own investigation. A diary left behind by Charles provides helpful clues that lead Eliza through dangerous areas dominated by the criminal Brotherhood of the Waning Moon and cutthroat business rivals. Eliza receives assistance from Axel Kramer, an attractive German entrepreneur, and a local priest who lends Eliza and Axel his boat so they can resume the search on the small islands that dot the western coast. This final, most dangerous leg of Eliza's journey tests her physical endurance, bravery, and faith in the belief she can save her father. Though the revelations about Charles's disappearance feel a bit lackluster after all the adventure, the author offers plenty of sensory details and satisfying character development for Eliza. Overall, Pook casts an intoxicating spell.
