The Pearl of Tagai Town

A heart-warming and ultimately triumphant story of the life of a young Torres Strait Islander woman from Tagai Town, a shantytown on the northeastern coast of Australia, in the decades before, during and after World War II.

Growing up in the 1930s, Pearl strives for a place in the wider world, battling deep-seated prejudices. When she rescues a white shopkeeper trapped under a fallen beam, a bond forms between the two women, and Pearl becomes the first Ailan woman, Islander woman, to work front-of-shop in the nearby white town. Not everyone is happy, of course, least of all the affronted white customers. But Pearl is quietly determined. Her budding romance with the bank manager’s son, though, must always be kept secret for her to retain her position and for the security of Tagai Town. Like Ama Rose says, ‘We leave them koles, white people, alone and they leave us alone!’

When war arrives and Teddy suddenly enlists in the army, Pearl faces a cruel punishment. But her quest to recover the child she had with Teddy reveals much more than she’d bargained for.

Lenora Thaker’s debut novel, The Pearl of Tagai Town, brings a fresh angle to Australian historical fiction with a First Nations wartime love story.

‘Readers of Kate Grenville and Anita Heiss and those drawn to lesser-told stories will find much to admire in this striking debut.’ Books+Publishing
‘The Pearl of Tagai Town reclaims history through storytelling.’ National Indigenous Times
‘Powerful and beautiful’ Readings

’Torres Strait Islander novels have been as rare as hen’s teeth, making this work not just a beautiful sorry but a groundbreaking contribution to a literary landscape that has waited too long to hear these voices.’ Rudi Bremer, ABC Radio National