The Pearl of Tagai Town

Lenora Thaker

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Paperback

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English

Text Publishing Company
01 July 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Historical fiction; Australian Fiction

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A sweeping, 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.

By: Lenora Thaker
Imprint: Text Publishing Company
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781923058392
ISBN 10: 1923058398
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 01 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Lenora Thaker is a proud Meriam and Wagedagam woman born and raised on Gimuy-Walubarra Yidinji and Yirraganydji country in far north Queensland. She is a descendant of the Torres Strait Islanders of Cairns Malaytown (a shantytown located on swampland from the late 1800s to the early 1950s), who are the inspiration for this story. Lenora Thaker received the Boundless Mentorship for The Pearl of Tagai Town.