I absolutely loved The Girl In The Painting. This is the second of Tea Cooper's books I have read....the other being The Woman in the Green Dress. Both are richly detailed Australian historical mysteries and have strong female protagonists. Skillful weaving of multiple timelines meant I wasn't too confused in the jumping backwards and forwards in timelines.
The story time frames alternate between the earlier story of brother and sister Michael and Elizabeth Quinn travelling to Australia in 1862 to meet up with their parents who had emigrated earlier and the "present" time frame of the book where Jane Piper, a mathematical prodigy and orphan, is generously taken in by Michael and Elizabeth Quinn at age nine, now calling them uncle and aunt..
Michael has carried a secret with him since he and Elizabeth left England and as Elizabeth starts to have flashbacks in her later life, the time is right to tell the truth, albeit 50 years later.
An exceptional plot, interesting and intriguing historical fiction. I loved the difference in the generations - Jane is a little more wild and go go go. Her mind is full of mathematical patterns and races. Whereas Elizabeth is more reserved and prim and proper. I, along with Jane, was bursting to reveal information to Elizabeth that would bring the threads of the mystery together, but Elizabeth seemed more prone to wait to receive it.....maybe even until the next day!
The closer I neared the end of the book, the faster I read. I was so keen to reach the finale and the mystery revealed, tying all together.
It is beyond me how Tea Cooper comes up with the twists and turns of this beautiful story....such a pleasure to get lost in.
Thanks NetGalley, Harlequin Books Australia and Tea Cooper for my advanced copy of this book to read.

The Girl in the Painting is my first foray into Tea Cooper’s story world and it did not disappoint. Not only was I presented with a richly entertaining story but I also got to glimpse aspects of the people who forged the history of my country.
This is a dual timeline story, set partly in the early years of the 20th century, where we follow the life of orphan Jane Piper who, at the age of nine, is given the opportunity to move from the foundling home where she has lived for all but the first two weeks of her life. The second timeline takes place nearly fifty years earlier and follows the emigration of Michael and Elizabeth from Liverpool to Sydney, Hill End and finally Maitland.
Through each of these timelines Tea Cooper gives readers a glimpse of early life in Australia. The story is meticulously researched and historical events of the time are neatly woven in providing a rich backdrop to the stories of Jane, Michael and Libby. While their story was in itself utterly fascinating, the history revealed as it unfolded made it even more enjoyable.

This book is told in dual timelines. That of Jane in 1906 and of the siblings journey from the UK in 1860. Orphan Jane is adopted by Michael and Elizabeth Quinn, a brother and sister who have travelled to Australia from England in the 1860’s. They first notice Janes intellect as they are benefactors of the orphanage and don’t want her brilliant mind to go to waste. When Elizabeth id found cowering int he corner of a gallery, the begining of a gripping puzzle starts.

This is the second book I have read by Tea Cooper and I loved every word of it.

The Girl In The Painting is another fabulous read from Tea! Here she has successfully given her readers the perfect historical mystery in a dual time narrative only separated by 50 years. Centreing around a young brother and sister’s immigration to Australia in the 1860s and then years later where they are firmly established in society.

There are a number of narrators throughout both timelines but there is never any confusion, in fact, it assists in understanding and engaging thoroughly with each of the main players. Weaved throughout, Tea once again clearly demonstrates time and place with a sprinkling of historical details. This is wondrous Australian fiction! Tea is always so good and adding that extra dimension to her stories and on this occasion her mystery and intrigue will keep readers turning pages until the very end.

‘I noticed there’s always a girl somewhere in each of your paintings, sometimes hardly visible, indistinct, yet always there.’
‘The paintings do tell a story. My story.’
Marigold’s gentle tone made Jane feel as though she was about to be led down a secret pathway. ‘So the girl is you?’

Tea is to be congratulated for presenting such an engaging and comprehensive tale. The settings both in England and Australia are authentic, particularly with the incorporation of real life events such as the orphanage fire in Liverpool and later the attempted assassination of Prince Alfred. Yet it’s the everyday cultural feel, from the streets of Sydney, to life on the goldfields that effortlessly include the reader so seamlessly.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl In The Painting with the combination of historical detail and well thought out intrigue. I highly encourage all historical fiction fans to take a trip back in time and immerse yourself for a while in the lives of Elizabeth and Michael. If you haven’t read any of Tea’s books then you are missing out.

‘Let me make a cup of tea. Tea fixes everything.’








This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Book blurb…
Maitland 1913
Miss Elizabeth Quinn is something of an institution in Maitland Town. For longer than anyone could remember she and her brother, businessman Michael, have lived in the impressive two-storey stone house next to the church. When she is discovered cowering in the corner of the exhibition gallery at the Technical College the entire town knows something strange has come to pass.
Was it the prehistoric remains or perhaps the taxidermy exhibition that had reduced the whale-boned encased pillar of society to a quivering mess? Or is there something odd about a striking painting on loan from the National Gallery?
Mathematical savant Jane Piper is determined to find out. Deposited on the doorstep of the local orphanage as a baby, she owes her life and education to the Quinns' philanthropic ventures and Elizabeth has no one else to turn to.
As the past and the present converge, Elizabeth's grip on reality loosens. Can Jane, with her logical brain and penchant for puzzles, unravel Elizabeth's story before it is too late?
Ranging from the gritty reality of the Australian goldfields to the grand institutions of Sydney, the bucolic English countryside to the charm of Maitland Town, this compelling historical mystery in the company of an eccentric and original heroine is rich with atmosphere and detail.

My thoughts…
PLOT
Well thought out and, as always with this author, great fiction blended with historical facts. Quite a convoluted plot with a twist or two, which adds to my enjoyment. I appreciate the effort that goes into creating a storyline with so many threads and found myself thinking about the novel when I wasn't reading (which meant I was drawn back to reading when I should have been doing other things!!) That’s rare for me. Well done, Tea.

PACE
For me, pace is critical. I’m a huge fan of crime and thrillers as I enjoy that edge-of-your-seat feeling, but sometimes I need to reset my reading, slow down, and get stuck into something a little ’softer’. Tea’s books always provide the perfect break. The slower pace allows the reader to absorb the setting/description, and the historical detail. Tea does this so well.

LANDSCAPE
I also love the way Tea uses the Australian landscape in her stories. Not overdone or flowery, the author keeps readers in the picture and lets them discover the setting through the character.

LIKEABLE CHARACTERS
Elizabeth and Jane are great characters, but Michael had a heart of gold.

UNLIKABLE CHARACTERS
Pardon the pun, but Tea always ‘paints’ interesting characters with solid backstories and emotional depth.

OVERALL FEELINGS ABOUT THE STORY
Once again, Tea Cooper has delivered a well-crafted, entertaining and intriguing story with passionate characters in an Australian setting. Loved it.

The Girl In the Painting is an engaging historical fiction novel, with an element of mystery, from Tea Cooper.

Set largely in New South Wales during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the narrative of The Girl In the Painting moves between two timelines which connects siblings Elizabeth and Michael Ó’Cuinn with Jane Piper, a bright young orphan, who becomes their ward.

As the story unfolds we learn of the circumstances that brought Michael and Elizabeth to New South Wales from Liverpool, England in 1863 as children, and the life they make for themselves in Hills End, and later Maitland Town. It’s 1906 when the siblings offer Jane, a math prodigy, a home, a role in their business, and the chance to further her education, but the crux of the story isn’t revealed until 1913 when Elizabeth uncharacteristically experiences a panic attack at an art exhibition, prompting Jane to investigate the cause, and a startling confession from Michael. I liked the thread of intrigue that the author developed, though the resolution was a little contrived.

I really enjoyed the setting of the novel. Cooper uses real, though unconnected, historical events as a framework, from the fire in an orphanage in Liverpool, to the attempted assassination of Prince Alfred, and the flooding of Maitland Town in 1913. The social and cultural details of the period, and the landscape of early Australia from the crowded streets of Sydney, to the goldfields of Hill End, and the nascent town of Maitland, are interesting and feel authentic.

Well crafted, with appealing characters, and rich in Australian historical detail, The Girl In the Painting is a novel that is sure to please.

Tea Cooper is a fabulous story teller and this book was beautifully written, a wonderful read with rich and engaging characters, I got to know Michael and Elizabeth so well, I felt their emotions as we journeyed from England to Australia in times that were tough and exciting a time of change, this is a captivating story that had me turning the pages.

The late 1860’s and a young Michal O’Cuinn is emigrating with his young sister Elizabeth to Australia to meet up with his parents, things don’t turn out as planned and Michael leaves Elizabeth in Sydney while he travels to the gold mining town of Hill End in New South Wales, the news is not good when he gets there but Michael is determined to give all he has to make a future for him and Elizabeth, he finally brings her to Hill End where she grows and learns so much and together they work hard and move onto Maitland.

It is now 1913 and Michael and Elizabeth are very successful business owners in Maitland, they are generous people and well liked they take on a young orphan Jane Piper (I loved Jane) who is mathematically gifted and the three get on very well running the auction house, until an exhibition of paintings by an English artist comes to town and Elizabeth has a turn or a dilemma and finds herself not acting normally, Michael is determined to help his beloved sister but he must also confess a secret and gets Jane who is ever logical to help solve the mystery. The mystery thickens is there a link to the paintings?

I don’t want to give too much away, I highly recommend that you read this one, MS Cooper has taken me on a trip back in time, the setting and descriptions are so good and along with Michael, Elizabeth and Jane there are other characters that add a lot to this story, the reality of Hill End and the beauty of Maitland were so well done, this one had me racing to the end of the book I really needed to know the outcome of the mystery, I loved the ending lots of smiles from me. I loved this one, you have done it again MS Cooper, you rock fabulous story, don’t miss this one.

An historical mystery set in Australia mostly between 1906 to 1913 with flashbacks to the 1860’s and 1870’s.
Jane Piper was left at an orphanage when she was a baby. Jane likes numbers and learning. Michael Quinn and his sister Elizabeth organise a scholarship so Jane can further her education. When Jane gets older, she helps Michael and Elizabeth in their business.
An artist visits Maitland and some of her work is displayed in a gallery. Elizabeth Quinn visits the gallery and her life and everything she believes is suddenly changed as she regains long forgotten memories to an earlier time. Jane and the artists son help Elizabeth.
I loved the way Jane Piper was helped by Michael and Elizabeth Quinn. I also liked the way the history of Michael Quinn and his sister was told. Gradually revealing all their secrets.
This is about families, identity, immigration and early Australian history set in gold rush town of Hill End, Sydney and Maitland.

It was 1863 when Michael Ó’Cuinn and his little sister Elizabeth left London bound for Australia. Their Mam and Da had gone earlier, leaving the two children with an aunt, but her death meant the journey to join their parents took place sooner than originally planned. Leaving Elizabeth with the Camerons in Sydney while Michael searched for their parents, the shock he faced meant he had to do some rapid growing up.

Fifty years later in 1913, Michael and Elizabeth lived in Maitland, NSW. They were well known and liked in the town; Michael was an astute businessman while Elizabeth controlled the accounting. They had rescued Jane from the orphanage when she was young, her mathematical genius something they wanted to cultivate. Jane called them Aunt and Uncle; she wasn’t adopted but was part of the family.

It was when Elizabeth was affected by an exhibition at the Technical College that things began to change. Elizabeth felt herself fading in and out of reality; her dizziness and fear was overwhelming. The doctor couldn’t find anything physically wrong with her – so what was happening? Jane was determined to find the answers; she owed everything to Michael and Elizabeth. She had to help. But was it a puzzle she could solve?

The Girl in the Painting by Aussie author Tea Cooper would have to be her best yet in my opinion! An exceptional plot, interesting, intriguing and poignant. I couldn’t put this one down; loved Jane’s character, especially when she first went to the Quinn household. I laughed out loud many times at her antics; she was forthright and didn’t hold back. The Girl in the Painting is a thoroughly enjoyable historical mystery novel which I highly recommend.

With thanks to the publisher for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Girl in the Painting

A enthralling historical fiction mystery set in the late 1800s and early 1900s in England and country Australia.
The story is mainly told through Jane, a young orphan who is taken in by brother and sister Michael and Elizabeth Quinn.
Michael and Elizabeth travel to Australia to meet up with their parents who travelled ahead to set up a new life for the family.
The life they set up for themselves is good and they are well respected philanthropists to the community they live in.
They ‘adopt’ Jane Piper as a young girl who has an real intellectual ability with numbers. The Quinn’s wish to provide an education for Jane and she becomes a part of the family.
One day Elizabeth takes a turn when she views a painting. Jane is unsure why or what to do but she is determined to help Jane from whatever is causing her distress. There are secrets, intrigue and a little romance. When the past catches up with the family there are surprises that the reader doesn’t see coming.
I really enjoyed the description of life in the gold rush period and the social and cultural differences between the different cultures that came to strike it rich. I also enjoyed the portrayal of strong women in an era of a man’s world.
The Girl in the Painting is a truly engaging historically interesting story that I highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for the advanced copy of this book for review.

Many thanks to Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Tea Cooper’s latest offering.

I have no hesitation in stating I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read this book having loved all of Cooper’s other works that I have read, and The Girl in the Painting did not disappoint. Another brilliantly written book that enthrals to the end.

The story begins in 1906 in Maitland Town Australia, where 9 year old Jane (I’ve been here for nine years, three months, one hour and twenty three minutes and was two weeks old when dropped off in the dead of night) is introduced to Michael Quinn by Sister Mary Ann who runs the orphanage where Jane has spent her life.

Jane has come to Quinn’s attention because of her amazing abilities with numbers and wants to offer her a scholarship, a concept that Jane finds most confusing. Even more confusing is Quinn’s directive to Sister Mary Ann, that she, Jane, is to be delivered to his home at 4pm the next day to have tea with him and his sister Miss Elizabeth Quinn where Jane’s future will be discussed.

The story then moves back in time to Birkenhead, England in 1862 where 15 years old Irish lad Michael O’Cuinn is waiting to board the ship to Australia with his sister Elizabeth. They are heading to find their parents who’d left them behind when they emigrated years ago as a childless couple was better able to get passage to Australia than a family.

Arriving in Australia Michael is shocked to discover his mother has died, and his father is a shell of a man addicted to opium and not long left for this world. However, it appears his father has also invested well and leaves Michael with a thriving business and the wherewithal to make a decent life for himself and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth discovers a talent for arithmetic, while at the same time falling for the young Chinaman Jing, a relationship that Michael can not allow to continue, a decision that will forever leave a wedge between her and her brother.

The Quinn’s decide to use their background in the workhouses of England and their new-found wealth to assist other orphans and abandoned children who show promise to achieve in life. Hence their decision to support and encourage Jane.

Jane and Elizabeth quickly form a strong bond and Elizabeth fosters Jane’s love of all things numerate.

Then one day, while attending The Technical College where there was an exhibition of Tost and Rohu curiosities, taxidermied specimens and fossilised remains, as well as artworks between each exhibition cabinet, Elizabeth takes a strange turn and the Quinn’s world begins to slowly unravel.

Suddenly nothing is quite what it seems, secrets held by Michael for 50 years threaten to tear their world apart, and why has Langdon-Penter, husband of artist Marigold Penter, decided that now is the time to hold an exhibition of her works in Maitland Town?

As always Cooper’s characters are strong and three dimensional, and she draws you into her story as if you are there and experiencing what is happening first-hand. Her works just keep getting better and better.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quality read with a historical bent and an intriguing twist. I give it 5 stars.

Chapters alternate between two distinct time periods. One is from Jane Piper, an orphan who is cared for by two wealthy benefactors, Michael Quinn and his sister Elizabeth. Jane’s perspective is set in the early 1900s in Maitland Town. The other is the story of Michael and Elizabeth Quinn, from their arrival in Australia from England in the 1860s, through the gold rushes in Hill End (Bathurst) and their path to Maitland Town.

The elder Michael and Elizabeth are now successful local business people. Neither have married and they took Jane in to nurture her intellectual talent. Whilst viewing artwork during an exhibition at the local gallery Elizabeth has a funny turn and experiences unsettling flashbacks of unknown origin. She seeks to dismiss everyone’s concern until there is a repeat occurrence.

With his sister’s wellbeing in issue, Michael shares some information with both Jane and Elizabeth that will significantly impact each of their futures. Michael’s narrative of the past holds some untruths and will challenge his reputation as an ethical and fine, upstanding businessman. And Jane with her thirst for knowledge and attention to detail seeks to find out the truth if but to clear Michael’s name.

I was particularly keen to read this book due to its setting in the Maitland area of the Hunter Valley, and it’s historical references to the area that are so close to me. It was a pleasure to read a book so rich and meticulous in its attention to historical detail.

Tea Cooper succeeds in a portrayal of quite strong, intelligent women forging new frontiers in the worlds of business and academia during our early history. She weaves in concepts such as familial violence and mental health as were perceived at those times, as well within these contexts. There is some mystery and it’s a tale of yearning.

I recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction, where the beauty is in the delightful characters and the lyrical detail of yesterday’s Australians.

Thank you to Tea Cooper, Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date 16 December 2019

An abridged version of this review will appear on #bookstagram @aplace_inthesun close to release date .

‘The bell rang late.’

The story opens in Maitland Town, Australia in 1906 and then shifts to Birkenhead, England in 1862. It ends in Maitland Town in 1913. What is the story that links these places and years?
In 1862, fifteen-year-old Michael Ó’Cuinn and his four-year-old sister Elizabeth left Birkenhead to join their parents in Australia. Their parents had left Ireland to try to make a better life in the goldfields at Hill End and the siblings had been staying with an aunt.

By 1906, Michael Quinn is a well-established businessman in Maitland Town. He and Elizabeth live in an impressive two-storey stone house next to the church. Jane Piper is a nine-year-old orphan, a mathematical prodigy, taken in by the Quinns, and offered a future.

In 1913, in the exhibition gallery at the Technical College, Elizabeth Quinn is found cowering in the corner. Elizabeth does not seem to recover from the incident and Jane is determined to find out why.

I don’t want to spoil this engaging story for a first-time reader. Suffice to say there is a mystery or two to be uncovered: the past is full of secrets.

Ms Cooper has woven an interesting novel around a series of disconnected historical events, peopled the story with interesting (and some dastardly) characters. I really enjoyed this novel.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin HQ for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Thank to NetGalley, Harlequin Australia and Tea Cooper for my copy of her new book: The Girl In The Painting.

In 1906, Jane Piper is living in the local orphanage in Maitland, one day she is directed by the nuns to dress in her Sunday best and summoned down stairs. Michael Quinn a local business man wants to talk to her and she has no idea why? Jane was left at the orphanage as a baby, no one has ever wanted to adopt her, she talks way too much and has a habit of saying whatever pops into her head at the time! Jane is very smart, Michael and his sister Elizabeth Quinn support the orphanage. In Jane's case they noticed from her school work that she's a mathematical genius, they don't want her brilliant mind to be wasted, she's offered a scholarship, she can attend the girls school in Maitland and live with them.

In 1913, Elizabeth Quinn and Jane go to the local technical college to look at the accounting books, when Elizabeth wanders off to look at a taxidermy exhibition and has a funny turn? Elizabeth wanted to ignore the whole episode, it's never happened before and she puts it down to being tired. The local doctor thinks it's due to her age and it's a ladies change of life complaint? When it happens again, Jane is very concerned and something is wrong with her sensible Aunt Elizabeth.

The story has a dual timeline and fifty years earlier, Michael and Elizabeth O'Cuinn set sail from England to finally be reunited with their parents in Sydney. When they arrive fifteen year old Michael discovers his parents are not waiting for them when the ship docks and he's very concerned. He leaves four year old Elizabeth with Mrs Cameron a lady who they met on the ship while sailing to Australia and sets off to discover what happened to his Mam and Da?

He discovers his Ma has passed away and he father will soon follow her. He has no choice but to leave Elizabeth with Mrs Cameron and pay her to look after his little sister until he has a reliable income and a place for them to stay. Later when he discovers that his sister is no longer going to school, the money he sends isn't going towards her "keep" and Mrs Cameron has put Elizabeth to work scrubbing ladies underwear in her laundry business, he's furious. He takes her with him to the Australian gold fields in Hill End where he owns a warehouse and runs a carting business.

Now years later he's very concerned about his sister, did something happen to her while she was staying with the Cameron's and is that why she's started having funny turns? Or is due to what happened to Elizabeth just prior to them leaving for Australia, he has never spoken to her about it and is she having memory flashbacks?

Can cleaver Jane fit together the pieces of the puzzle, put it all together, before her Aunt Elizabeth loses her grip on reality and is considered to be mentally insane? Or, is there something odd about a striking painting on loan from the National Gallery, does it contain clues to her Aunts past and did she look at it while in the college?

The Girl In The Painting is a brilliant historical mystery, where the past and the present combine, to create a story that has so many twists and turns, you can't stop reading and the title of the book hides some of the clues to how it ends!
A big five stars from me and well done Tea Cooper.

The Girl in the Painting is a historical fiction novel by best-selling Australian author, Téa Cooper. In Maitland Town in 1913, Jane Piper is still counting her blessings that Michael and Elizabeth Quinn chose her from the orphanage. Not to adopt, but to further her education and realise an undreamt-of career as an accountant. In her first interview, she told Michael: “I like numbers, sir. See, they don’t lie, sir. Not like people. There’s only right or wrong, no in-betweens” and that still holds true.

But one day, at the Technical College with Elizabeth to view an exhibition, her benefactor takes a turn. What can have reduced this unfailingly poised lady to a gibbering mess? Aunt Elizabeth wants to ignore the whole episode, to dismiss it, but Jane can’t let it go. Especially when it happens again. She will use her deductive powers to learn what has affected her beloved patroness so.

Fifty years earlier, a sweet blue-eyed four-year-old girl slipped her hand into young Michael Ó’Cuinn’s as they boarded a ship for their assisted passage to join parents Michael and Aileen Quinn in Sydney. The news that greeted them on arrival was a shock, however, and Michael had to leave Elizabeth with the Camerons while he sorted out a place to safely raise a child: the goldfields at Hill End wouldn’t fit the bill, but that’s where his Da was.

Several narrators tell the story over two timelines, and Cooper easily captures the era and the setting. Her characters are interesting and engaging and it’s utterly impossible not to fall in love with little Jane from the first chapter. Cooper gives the reader lots of historical tidbits mingled with a good dose of intrigue and a hint of romance, and wraps it all in wonderfully evocative prose. Marvellous Australian historical fiction!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley, Better Reading Preview and Harlequin Australia