The Pearl of Tagai Town

A sweeping, heart-warming and ultimately triumphant story of the life of a young Torres Strait Islander woman and her family living in Tagai Town, a shantytown on the far northeast coast of Australia, in the 1930s and 40s.

Pearl strives for a place in the wider world, battling deep-seated white prejudice. 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 to work front-of-shop in the nearby white town. Not everyone is happy, least of all the affronted white customers. Pearl's budding romance with the bank manager’s son must always be kept secret.  As Ama Rose says, ‘We leave them koles, white people, alone and they leave us alone!’

But secrets have a way of being found out.

Pages:  384, Paperback

Published: 2025