Lizzie Pook

For readers of The Light Between Oceans and The Island of Sea Women, a feminist adventure story set against the backdrop of the dangerous pearl diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia, about a young English woman who sets off to uncover the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father.

Western Australia, 1886. After months at sea, a slow boat makes its passage from London to the shores of Bannin Bay. From the deck, young Eliza Brightwell and her family eye their strange, new home. Here is an unforgiving land where fortune sits patiently at the bottom of the ocean, waiting to be claimed by those brave enough to venture into its depths. An ocean where pearl shells bloom to the size of soup plates, where men are coaxed into unthinkable places and unspeakable acts by the promise of unimaginable riches.

Ten years later, the pearl-diving boat captained by Eliza’s eccentric father returns after months at sea—without Eliza’s father on it. Whispers from townsfolk point to mutiny or murder. Headstrong Eliza knows it’s up to her to discover who, or what, is really responsible.

As she searches for the truth, Eliza discovers that beneath the glamorous veneer of the pearling industry, lies a dark underbelly of sweltering, stinking decay. The sun-scorched streets of Bannin Bay, a place she once thought she knew so well, are teeming with corruption, prejudice, and blackmail. Just how far is Eliza willing to push herself in order to solve the mystery of her missing father? And what family secrets will come to haunt her along the way?

A transporting feminist adventure story based on Lizzie Pook’s deep research into the pearling industry and the era of British colonial rule in Australia, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is ultimately about the lengths one woman will travel to save her family.

Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter

Everything has a price. And the truth may cost more than pearls . . . 'If I was lost on the ocean, would you come to find me?' It is 1886 and the Brightwell family has sailed from England to make their new home in Western Australia. Ten-year-old Eliza knows little of what awaits them in Bannin Bay beyond stories of shimmering pearls and shells the size of soup plates - the very things her father has promised will make their fortune. ~~~ Ten years later, as the pearling ships return after months at sea, Eliza waits impatiently for her father to return with them. When his lugger finally arrives however, Charles Brightwell, master pearler, is declared missing. Whispers from the townsfolk point to mutiny or murder, but Eliza knows her father and, convinced there is more to the story, sets out to uncover the truth. She soon learns that in a town teeming with corruption, prejudice and blackmail, answers can cost more than pearls, and must decide just how much she is willing to pay, and how far she is willing to go, to find them. A gloriously rich and wonderfully assured debut, Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter is set in a mesmerising yet unforgiving land, where both profit and peril lie deep beneath the ocean's surface; rendered with astonishing clarity, it is a novel that marks Lizzie Pook as a name to watch.

For readers of Sarah Penner and Stuart Turton comes a historical mystery about a young woman in Victorian London who will stop at nothing to avenge her sister after her suspicious death aboard an Arctic exploration ship. An Arctic expedition. A mysterious death. And the lengths to which one woman will go to avenge her sister. When Maude Horton receives a letter from the British Admiralty informing her of her younger sister’s death, her world is shattered. Bold and daring, Constance had run away from her life in Victorian London two years prior, disguising herself as a boy to board the Makepeace, an expedition vessel bound for the Arctic’s unexplored Northwest Passage. The admiralty claims Constance’s death was a tragic accident, but Maude knows when she is being deceived. Armed with Constance’s diary from her time at sea and a fiery desire for justice, Maude sets her sights on the Makepeace’s former scientist, Edison Stowe, a greedy and manipulative man who she suspects had a hand in her sister’s death. When she learns he has a new venture, a travel company that escorts spectators across the country to witness popular public hangings, Maude decides to join the latest tour, determined to extract the truth from Stowe and avenge her sister—no matter the risk to herself. From the stark beauty of the Arctic to the teeming streets of Victorian London, Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge is a mysterious, transporting tale about the unbreakable bond of sisterhood and the things we are driven to do by both love and greed.

Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge

Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter

Josette Chicheportiche

Un roman d'aventure sur les côtes australiennes et le beau portrait d'une jeune fille qui s'émancipe. Australie occidentale, 1886. Un bateau à vapeur en provenance de Londres fait son entrée à Bannin Bay. Depuis le pont, la petite Eliza Brightwell, dix ans, observe ce monde nouveau avec ses volutes de poussière rouge et ses inimaginables richesses tapies au fond de l'océan. Car c'est ici que sa famille espère faire fortune grâce à la pêche à la perle. Dix ans plus tard, son père Charles Brightwell, devenu le perlier le plus prolifique de la baie, disparaît subitement de son bateau en pleine mer. Qu'est-il devenu ? Le mystère est entier. Personne ne sait rien, personne ne semble vouloir parler. Seule Eliza s'entête à découvrir ce qui s'est passé. Et dans une ville où règnent la corruption, le racisme et le chantage, la vérité coûte bien plus cher que des perles. Eliza devra décider si elle est prête à en payer le prix. Le premier roman de Lizzie Pook, teinté d'un exotisme fascinant, raconte avec fougue la quête de liberté d'une jeune femme guidée par l'amour filial.

La fille du pêcheur de perles

A young woman searches for the truth about her sister, who boarded a ship headed to the frozen Arctic and never returned in this “engrossing historical mystery” (The Washington Post). Twenty-year-old Constance Horton has run away from her life in Victorian London, disguising herself as a boy to board the Makepeace, an expedition vessel bound for the icy and unexplored Northwest Passage of the Arctic. She struggles to keep her real identity a secret on the ship, a feat that only grows more difficult when facing the constant dangers of the icy North. Even more dangerous than the cold, the storms, and the hunger, are some of the men aboard—including the ship’s scientist Edison Stowe. He’s watching Constance, and she knows that his attention could be fatal. In London two years later: Maude Horton is searching for the truth. After being told by the British Admiralty that her sister’s death onboard the Makepeace was nothing more than a tragic accident, she receives a diary revealing that Edison Stowe had more of a hand in Constance’s death than the returning crew acknowledged. In order to get the answers she needs, Maude shadows Edison. She joins him on a new venture he’s started to capitalize on the murder mania that has all of London in a frenzy—a travel company that takes guests around the country via train to witness public hangings—to extract the truth from him in any way possible. Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge is a “brilliant” (Publishers Weekly), “addictive” (Emilia Hart, New York Times bestselling author of Weyword), “utterly compulsive” (Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters) novel about the lengths we will go to for justice—and for love.

A Novel

Lizzie Pookin Helmenkalastajan tytär on Australian myrskyisän 1800-luvun lopulle sijoittuva huikaiseva ja aistivoimainen tarina nuoresta naisesta, jonka täytyy oppia tuntemaan itsensä löytääkseen kadonneen isänsä.

Helmenkalastajan tytär

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.

For readers of The Light Between Oceans and The Island of Sea Women, a feminist adventure story set against the backdrop of the dangerous pearl diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia, about a young English woman who sets off to uncover the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father. Western Australia, 1886. After months at sea, a slow boat makes its passage from London to the shores of Bannin Bay. From the deck, young Eliza Brightwell and her family eye their strange, new home. Here is an unforgiving land where fortune sits patiently at the bottom of the ocean, waiting to be claimed by those brave enough to venture into its depths. An ocean where pearl shells bloom to the size of soup plates, where men are coaxed into unthinkable places and unspeakable acts by the promise of unimaginable riches. Ten years later, the pearl-diving boat captained by Eliza’s eccentric father returns after months at sea—without Eliza’s father on it. Whispers from townsfolk point to mutiny or murder. Headstrong Eliza knows it’s up to her to discover who, or what, is really responsible. As she searches for the truth, Eliza discovers that beneath the glamorous veneer of the pearling industry, lies a dark underbelly of sweltering, stinking decay. The sun-scorched streets of Bannin Bay, a place she once thought she knew so well, are teeming with corruption, prejudice, and blackmail. Just how far is Eliza willing to push herself in order to solve the mystery of her missing father? And what family secrets will come to haunt her along the way? A transporting feminist adventure story based on Lizzie Pook’s deep research into the pearling industry and the era of British colonial rule in Australia, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is ultimately about the lengths one woman will travel to save her family.

Lizzie Pook

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