Book Review: The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper @TeaCooper1 @ThomasNelson @TLCBookTours

The Girl in the Painting
Tea Cooper
Thomas Nelson, March 2021
ISBN 978-0-7852-4033-4
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

A young prodigy in need of family.

A painting that shatters a woman’s peace.

And a decades-old mystery demanding to be solved.

Australia, 1906

Orphan Jane Piper is nine years old when philanthropist siblings Michael and Elizabeth Quinn take her into their home to further her schooling. The Quinns are no strangers to hardship. Having arrived in Australia as penniless immigrants, they now care for others as lost as they once were.

Despite Jane’s mysterious past, her remarkable aptitude for mathematics takes her far over the next seven years, and her relationship with Elizabeth and Michael flourishes as she plays an increasingly prominent part in their business.

But when Elizabeth reacts in terror to an exhibition at the local gallery, Jane realizes no one knows Elizabeth after all—not even Elizabeth herself. As the past and present converge and Elizabeth’s grasp on reality loosens, Jane sets out to unravel her story before it’s too late.

From the gritty reality of the Australian goldfields to the grand institutions of Sydney, this compelling novel presents a mystery that spans continents and decades as both women finally discover a place to call home.

Immigration is a heavily-weighted word these days and has always held significant meaning in America’s history and it is no less so in Australia. That country’s beginnings are rooted in the creation and development of a penal colony and its early, mostly white, settlers frequently either had a prison-based past or had run to this remote land to escape secrets. Once again, Ms. Cooper makes use of multiple timelines, bringing divergent yet connected stories together, and does so to good effect.

In 1906, the Quinn siblings are successful business leaders who are generous in sharing their good fortune and plucking Jane Piper from an orphanage is exactly the sort of thing they like to do to help someone else make the most of their own abilities and strengths. Jane’s prodigious mathematical talents position her to become useful to the kind brother and sister but it’s something from Elizabeth’s past that triggers Jane to learn more about the Quinns and the secrets Michael has been keeping to himself for decades. By now a trusted partner, Jane is driven to look for the hidden truths that lie in the Quinns’ own emigration as children from England to Australia all those years ago and the mysteries she unearths are compelling history in themselves.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, March 2021.

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Purchase Links:
Barnes & Noble // Thomas Nelson // Amazon

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About the Author

Tea Cooper is an Australian author of historical and contemporary fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.

Connect with Tea:

Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

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