I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Talented Mrs Greenway. I love how Tea writes fictional stories based on historical facts. I had not heard of the Greenway’s and enjoyed learning about their mark on history. I loved the various relationships Mary had with people of various walks in life, in particular with Elizabeth. Life would have been tough in the early days of settlement and I enjoyed seeing this through a woman’s eye.

Highly recommend.

The Greenway family are stonemasons and builders in England and Francis is a promising architect. He and Mary Fripp marry and not long after he's convicted of forgery, Mary feels like it's her fault and Francis is transported to Terra Australis, and the Colony of New South Wales.

Mary follows as soon as she can, with her are her three children George, William and Frankie, she has no idea what’s happened to Francis and she can’t wait to be reunited with him.

Mary’s first husband James Fripp was a nasty man, her father thought he’d left Mary, their house Manali and his investments in good hands, and this wasn’t the case at all.

Mary is full of nervous anticipation about living in the new Colony, she can put the past behind her and have a fresh start. Mary’s a resourceful woman, she's her husband's greatest supporter and she can see Sydney Town has potential. By chance Mary meets Elizabeth Macquarie and it seems like she has finally met a like-minded friend, but due to Francis being a convict and Mrs Macquarie has to be careful who she associates with.

Set during the time when Lachlan Macquarie is the Governor of New South Wales, Francis Greenway is eventually appointed the Civil Architect and Assistant Engineer, he designed classic colonial buildings and some still stand today. Lachlan Macquarie thought men like Francis, who served their time or were emancipists should be treated fairly and given a second chance and the gentry or exclusives didn't approve of his ideas. He wanted to stop the Colony of New South Wales being seen only as a place to send criminals and to make space in England's jails, and instead as a free settlement.

An agent is sent from London to check on what the governor doing, his superiors in London think he's spending too much money, he agrees the buildings are to elaborate and convicts would of more use working for landholders and not as builders laborers.

This has a flow on effect for the Greenways, Francis doesnt think he has been paid fairly for his work, he's known for being temperamental and could this be used against him?

I received a digital copy of The Talented Mrs Greenway from Harlequin Australia and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Using real facts and fiction Tea Cooper has written an articulate and detailed story about the very beginning, planning and construction of the city now know as Sydney and the woman who stood beside one of Australia's first architects and maybe had an influence on how he designed the classic buildings.

Mary Greenway was a remarkable woman, a wife, mother and artist, but most of all she was smart, resilient, resourceful and wanted women to have the same opportunities as men. I had never heard of Francis and Mary Greenway prior to reading this book and Ms. Cooper always writes about fascinating historical times and the people who helped make Australia what it is today and five stars from me. Out of all Tea Cooper's books, this is my favourite and I highly recommend.

As always with any Tea Cooper book, I was thrilled to receive an early copy and started reading immediately! I only wish there were more hours in the day to keep reading....
As is Tea's specialty, this book is based mainly in Australia; in the early years of a new nation evolving from a convict colony. While historical fiction, anyone who has visited Sydney would recognise landmark references, including what is now known as Mrs Macquaries Chair.
From the first page, I was drawn into Mary's story, as depressing and sorry as it was with her violent sadistic husband, when she lived near Bath, England as a new wife expected to produce an heir and a spare.
For Mary, meeting Francis Greenway was an escape....a meeting of minds and reciprocated respect. Little did Mary know, where this friendship would take her...literally to the ends of the earth.
Francis Greenway is a real architect who contributed greatly to the early building of Sydney. Mary's story is more a work of fiction, but effortlessly woven into her husband's story and the happenings of the time. As with many early settlers, Mary was resourceful, determined, passionate and sometimes a little lucky to surround herself with people and resources to assist her husband (in a most covert way), bring up seven healthy children and establish a way of giving back to the less lucky girls in the town.
However, being in a new country doesn't always guarantee the past is forgotten....lies and mistakes do have a way of following you, as do the prejudices of a class system where the emancipated are never quite equal.
I very much enjoyed "The Talented Mrs Greenway" but can't quite class it as a favourite..."The Green Dress" still holds that slot for rivetting excitement. I can't wait to see what next event of Australian social history will be inspiration for Tea.
Thanks to NetGalley, Tea Cooper and Harlequin Australia for my copy.

This story started off a little slow for me and I didn’t like Mary's first husband at all which made it a bit difficult for me to read. Once he was dealt with, I enjoyed the story much more. Mary was a lovely character who had dreams and worked hard to make them come true. She was separated from her husband, moved to a new colony, was the mother of a lot of children and managed her husband - what a busy life! Mrs Greenway was certainly very talented.

A wonderful story of one woman's determination, to further her life along side her second husbands. Of following her dreams, assisting in the building of some of our famous buildings within the Sydney and Parramatta area. Of how one woman's dream came to fruition, along side being a mother to 7 children, and assisting her husband in his dreams as well. A great look into Sydney's history, a must read.