A wonderful, historical read with well written characters. I enjoyed learning more about the time period and look forward to reading more of Tea Cooper's stories!

I committed to a review of this book months ago and I let life get in the way. I finally started reading again and have to say that this book was completely enjoyable and I highly recommend it. So many books being published right now seem to lack substance and are very predictable to me. This one wasn't, it had twists and turns that I really did not expect. Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to give my honest opinion of #TheCartogtapher'sSecret. I'm sorry it took so long to do so, it was a really enjoyable book.

This is probably my favorite from Tea Cooper. It was such an interesting story, rich in history, and well rounded characters. I can see myself reading this again in the near future!

I received a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper is a beautifully written novel that takes readers on a journey through history, love, and mystery. The story is set in the late 1800s in Australia and revolves around a young woman named Olivia who inherits her father's map-making business after his sudden death. As she takes over the business, she discovers a hidden room in her father's office that contains an old diary and a map that leads to a mysterious island in the Pacific Ocean.

As Olivia delves deeper into her father's past and the secrets surrounding the island, she finds herself drawn to a handsome but mysterious man named Jack, who seems to know more about her father's map-making work than he lets on. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth about the island and the secrets it holds.

Tea Cooper has crafted a unique and captivating story that seamlessly weaves together history, romance, and adventure. Her descriptions of the Australian landscape are vivid and breathtaking, and her characters are complex and fully realized. The Cartographer's Secret is a must-read for anyone who loves a good mystery and a well-crafted historical novel.

Cover: The colors are soft, with the protagonist featured from the side. Not bad.

Is The Cartographer’s Secret a good book? Yes. Do I like it? Not quite.

I want to preface this by saying that this is a pleasant story indeed—I’m not just saying. Australia provides a picturesque setting, and Cooper crafts the two protagonists with ease and confidence. Letitia stands out the most: her intro is captivating, even if she follows the rebel girl archetype, while Evie starts off a bit, ah, muted? At least compared to Letitia?

There’s a dual timeline and a mystery to solve, with a third point of view for both. The opening might seem a little rough, but it improves around 15%. Good grammar, correct punctuation, the five points structure checks out… so why I don’t like it?

The pacing. It drags too much.

I mean, I tried walking away from it before writing my review; I tried picking it up again for another quick read-through. No dice. Truth is, in my opinion, The Cartographer’s Secret could benefit from losing some of the slow-paced details, from the heavy dialogues to the dragging prose—maybe get rid of a hundred pages?

3.5 stars on GR.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject matter really interesting. The book was well written and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.

An engaging story filled with interesting characters. Packed with rich descriptions, huge secrets, and loveable mutts. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This absorbing historical mystery takes place in Australia with a dual timeline of 1880 and 1911. Both timelines feature adventurous and brave young women: eighteen-year-old Evie Ludgrove lives on a ranch in The Hunter Valley region of Australia in 1880. Thirty years later young Lettie Rawlings travels from her home in Sydney to the same ranch where her Aunt Olivia lives, driving her late brother’s Model-T. Evie is also Lettie’s aunt, and has been missing for 30 years. After arriving, Lettie gets caught up in the family mystery of Evie’s disappearance. She hopes searching through old papers and articles in her late grandfather’s study will uncover clues as to why Evie disappeared and possibly settle an ongoing family feud.

I liked the independent and strong women characters – Evie, Lettie, and Aunt Olivia. Evie is the cartographer of the book’s title; Lettie confidently drives and repairs her car (in 1911!); while Olivia is running the family’s horse ranch entirely on her own. All are affected by loss and grief, especially Lettie and Olivia who “carried the same pain. A pain that would never go away, should never go away. Because love and loss hurt.”

The first portion of the novel moves between Evie’s narrative and Lettie’s, and the story becomes more detailed as the mystery grows. While the book includes a printed representation of Evie’s map, the author does an excellent job of describing it so that I could picture it in my mind.

I liked the way the author provided clues to the mystery of Evie’s disappearance as Lettie uncovers them, including the map, artifacts, memories, and even a slight supernatural element.

I didn’t want to put this one down. I recommend this Australian historical mystery with a bit of romance and a satisfying ending.

The Cartographer’s Secret is a multi-generational novel! I have to say that Evie was the most interesting character in the novel. I liked learning about her profession as a cartographer. She is a very determined young woman. However, everything went downhill once Evie disappears. The story tended to drag. Still, I kept on reading to find out what happened to Evie. The story just was not the same after Evie’s storyline. Still, I recommend this for fans of The Pearl Sister, The Light after the War, and Kaleidoscope!

Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Muse for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

I loved the premise, I loved the writing style, I loved the setting. I did not like the dialogue (clunky, which seems so at odds with how Tea Cooper's are reviewed by others) and I really lost all interest in the story once Evie's POV ended. A bit too many coincidences and a bit too many (unlikable) characters for me.

I think Tea Cooper is an excellent writer, and I loved the setting of this book. However, the book storyline didn't captivate me, which is why I gave this 3 stars. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

⭐⭐⭐ -- Great cover on this one!

This one fell somewhere between 3 and 3,5 stars. I was quite enjoying it until Evie's POV ended (I want to say halfway through?) then the story dragged and we were left with a bunch of loose ends that honestly could have been wrapped up with answers by the addition of a chapter or two from Evie's POV at the end. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a compliemtary copy oif this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This book was a lovely historical fiction tale with engagning characters and a wonderful storyline. I will say, I enjoyed her book The Girl inthe Green Dress much more and kept thinking that as good as this book was that one was better.

Lettie goes to visit her aunt Olivia at the family estate, to inform her of a death in the family and really just to escape for a while from the pressures of her life. She finds a beautifully drawn map and a hidden family secret aout her missing aunt Evie, that makes her rethink everything she knows about her family. A wonderful mystery story set in a stunning Australian backdrop that made me feel like i was there. This book is definitely worth a read; snuggle up with a cup of tea and immerse yourself in beautful New South Wales with Lettie and her family.

I feel Tea Cooper has done it again. She has crafted a wonderful story extremely immersive and full of detail in an area I am totally ignorant to & so found an exhilarating pleasure in reading about this part of Australias history due to my lack of knowledge on the subject and I felt completely pulled along for the ride with Evie and Letitia. The back and forth timeline between Evie and Letitia was a bit confusing for me. I was finding I was too wrapped up in trying to keep all the relations straightened out in my mind at the beginning rather than settling into the story to enjoy it. That was a big problem for me at the beginning but as soon as the story leveled out to just Lettie I felt more able to follow along and the relations made more sense to me. To get to the conclusion, it was a little too drawn out for my tastes, I felt it could have been streamlined a little bit more and tightened up a bit. I understand this was done so all the loose ends could feel drawn up without a question, but I couldn't help but think there could have been a slightly different way to do this. Even with all that I love Tea Cooper and Harper Muse and will read all her forthcoming books in the future because her writing is a creative flourish of descriptiveness and rich detail. Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

It took me awhile to finish this book. The story is written with such minute details you can picture the scenes perfectly in your mind. Partly written from historical events in Australia’s past, the author intertwines her story of Letitia Rawlings who is helping her fathers research the lost explorer Dr Ludwig Leichardt. And while doing so she finds a map created by her Aunt Eve, who was trying to prove her father had found Leichardt. But the map was never finished as her Aunt also disappeared. Letitia, herself a map maker decides to follow the clues on her Aunt’s map to find out what happened to her. I liked the story but it was a bit to detailed and long for me.
I thank #NetGalley and #HarperMuse for providing me with an ARC, but doing a review is of my own choice.

I jumped at the chance to read another historical fiction novel by Tea Cooper.. A mystery set in the beautiful Hunter Valley following two members of the same family generations apart. Evie Ludgrove a budding mapmaker is intrigued by her fathers interest in the Australian explorer Dr Ludwig Leichardt and is determined to discover the truth.

Thirty years later, after the disappearance of Evie, Letitia Rawlings seeking the truth about her family and her ancestors descends on the family estate and starts on a similar quest not without danger and unfolding romantic interest. Not quite as good as my previous read

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers HQ for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The story of Evie and Lettie was such a good read. I was spent a lot of time just wanting to know what happened next. While I wish we had seen more of Evie’s story through her eyes through the story, the format made sense for the events. The addition of Nathaniels POV was also a good way to add more to the story that would have not been possible with Lettie. I am not overly familiar with Australian history in the late 1800’s- early 1900’s but I enjoyed the fact and fiction that this book delivered during the time period. I do think the ending felt a little rushed and a few more things could have been “resolved” it was a satisfying ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this books from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought this book was ok but not great. It was a bit superficial and I didn't get as invested in the characters as I do in a really great book. There were two time periods in the book but very little of the older time period. I think it would have been better to have more of the older story line told by the characters themselves rather than being solved in the more recent time period.

It was interesting to learn more about Australia and the mystery of the Australian explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt. Letitia visits the old family estate to visit her great aunt and gets pulled into the mystery of the disappearance of her aunt Evie. Evie had been caught up in her father's obsession with Leichhardt and his disappearance.

Moving between the 1880 and 1911, this is the story of a family who ranched in Austria. Evie, the youngest daughter of a man obsessed with an explorer who disappeared in Australia, is determined to find out what happened to the explorer. She disappears and is never found. Now in 1911, her niece, with a Tin Lizzie and spunk, comes to visit her Great Aunt Olivia. Her mother wants Letitia to inherit the family ranch and commands her to visit and ingratiate herself with her aunt. Letty becomes engrossed with her missing aunt and is determined to find out what happened to her. Of course, she falls in love with the ranch and falls in love with a local cowboy. Readers will know what the conclusion is long before the story ends, but its still a satisfying story as the family rift is finally ended.

I have only recently discovered this author and I am very keen to read more.
This book is told in parallel timelines, one in the early 1880's the other in 1911 In rural New South Wales. In the 1880's Evie is a young woman who is fascinated with stories of explorers, in particular Ludwig Leichhardt. After her mother passes away, her father asks her to draw a map and she embellishes it with drawings of the local history.
In the 1911 timeline, Lettie is the daughter of Miriam, Evie's older sister. With a tragedy in the family, Lettie sets off from Sydney to visit her Great Aunt Olivia to try and heal a longstanding rift between her mother Miriam and Miriam's aunt.
At the Ludgrove family farm Lettie gets caught up in a family mystery of the disappearance of Evie, and hopes through searching through old papers to discover a clue as to why she disappeared and hopefully settle an enduring family feud.
A lovely piece of historical fiction and mystery.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Muse for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.