Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook - Book Review

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook

Publication Date: 14th June 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: A few hits and misses 

West Australia, 1886 & 1896 

Eliza’s family arrives in Bennin Bay for a new start away from London. The land is brutal, and so is the sea. The community might have people from several countries. The natives are treated like dirt and used for hard labor. After all, they dive into the deep waters to bring shells, and the owners sell the pearls to make money. Black market, corruption, slavery, abuse, and atrocities are a part of everyday life in Bennin Bay. 

Eliza’s family seems to have a decent life, and her father is a fair trader. But when their boat arrives without him, Eliza has no choice but to find out the truth. Thomas, her brother, doesn’t seem to know much. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to speak yet. 

Eliza knows she cannot sit idle, even if the community around her values women less than men. She is determined to get to the bottom of the truth. But what will this cost her? Can she find the truth about her father’s disappearance? 

What I Like:

• I haven’t read a story set in this backdrop before. While I know what colonizers do to natives (as an Indian), the pearl diving community was new to me. I haven’t heard of them before. 

• The descriptions of the settings are beautiful despite the grim and dark storyline. The metaphors got a little too much at times, but I got to ‘see’ a different land. 

• Eliza and Min are well-etched. They are flawed people with good hearts. Their friendship has its own beauty. More of their childhood journey would make them even more real. 

• The ending is satisfying and dissatisfying. Eliza’s character stays true to her arc, making me happy. A couple of characters get the closure. 

• The author’s note at the end is detailed and informative. Without revealing spoilers, I’ll just say that the author created her characters and the setting from real people and places. 

What Didn’t Work for Me: 

• The pacing is slow. If I wasn’t lucky enough to get extra reading time, the book would have taken another day to end. 

• Some of the scenes were a little too convenient. Despite the odds, Eliza doesn’t find it too hard to navigate through the male-dominated society. 

• There isn’t enough information about the natives and their lives. We are they are treated worse than dirt, but we have very little insight into their daily lives, customs, and culture. 

• Alex’s character never really took off. I wanted more depth to his character, considering the role he plays. 

• The dissatisfying parts of the ending are the loose ends. Some are just left to the reader’s imagination. I’m not fully okay with the one that is connected to the central plot. The other satisfied me. 

• The central story is paper-thin. What makes this work (to an extent) is the setting. Deciding the final rating wasn’t easy! After much debating, I fixed the rating at the midway mark of 3 stars (rounded). This one has great potential, but the heavy prose swallows the plot. 

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.  

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for the eARC.  

#NetGalley 

*****

PS: Despite the premise, this book is not a mystery. The publishers marked it historical and general fiction on NetGalley. The blurb calls it a feminist adventure. These sum up the book. Reading this as a mystery would disappoint the readers. There is no fantasy either.