Review: The Golden Thread

Title: The Golden Thread

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 30th October 2024 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

When eighteen-year-old Constance Montague wakes one Wednesday she expects the day to unfold like any other. Breakfast with her grandmother Nell and her mother Faith, a meeting in Maitland with the ladies of the Benevolent Society, perhaps a gentle stroll along the banks of the Hunter River. But this Wednesday is different. Nell has vanished.

Concerned, Connie determines to track Nell down and follows a lead to Old Government House in Parramatta, now a boarding house. There, to her astonishment she finds her grandmother holding court.

When Nell introduces her (under a false name!) to a varied cast of colourful guests, including a frail but observant old lady, a travelling salesmen, a bearded lothario, a clever articled clerk, a lively seamstress and an enigmatic housekeeper who is connected with Nell's past, Connie begins to realise that her grandmother is not who she seems. Nell is looking for something and following a thread stitched long ago, a thread that leads from some missing gold, to a golden dress and the attic of Government House and as the story unravels so do the secrets of the past, secrets that surface into the present to threaten not just Nell, but Connie too.

My Thoughts

Tea Cooper always presents outstanding Australian historical fiction and her latest, The Golden Thread, is no exception. I have enjoyed all of Tea’s previous works as they have proven to be consistently engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue. 

The Golden Thread once again entertains readers with strong female leads. I just adored Nell and how she works together with her granddaughter to unfold the mystery. There is a golden yellow dress, created in the mid-eighteenth century in London (now abandoned in an attic) that is the inspiration for this story. Tea is so clever at taking a piece of history and forming a fictional tale around it. So be sure to read her notes at the end of the book in which she tells the story of the ‘golden’ dress, explaining not only its history but also the provenance regarding pieces from history that feature in this book.

This is a clever story that will have you working to organise all the plot puzzle pieces that have been masterfully crafted by Tea. I was captivated by not only the determination of the two women, but also a strong cast of secondary characters. Congratulations Tea on once again producing a masterfully crafted tale of mystery and intrigue that will see the reader journeying side by side with Nell and Connie as they both respectively work to uncover the truth.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Talented Mrs Greenway

Title: The Talented Mrs Greenway

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 1st November 2023 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 350 pages

Genre: historical fiction 

Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

From a bestselling Australian author, this compellingly realised novel brings to life the story of an enigmatic figure, wife to feted colonial architect Francis Greenway, and asks, whose hand really shaped Sydney? Who is the talented Mrs Greenway?

1814 Sydney When Mary Greenway, freshly arrived from the old country, steps into the maelstrom of Sydney Town with three children at her skirts, she has high hopes of a new beginning, despite having little money and a husband in irons. After all, the sudden death of her sadistic first husband has meant freedom from her gilded cage and Francis Greenway is an architect of some promise, under the protection of Admiral Phillip himself. Mary herself is a woman of great resources and an even greater creative passion, a passion that will surely burn through anything that the filthy, burgeoning, vitality of colonial Sydney can throw at her. Soon ensconced in a tiny cottage in George Street, Mary sets about moulding a life for her family from the unpromising clay of this new colony, with a determination fired in equal parts by guilt for her disastrous past action that nearly brought ruin to them all and desire to see her true calling realised. When she is befriended by Elizabeth Macquarie it seems that fate is smiling on them with the promise of a better life in her grasp. But fate is a difficult mistress and with past secrets to keep, and current betrayals on the brink of discovery, the stakes are higher than ever. With Mary's grip on this new life slipping, will her past lies come back to haunt her?

My Thoughts

Tea Cooper has delivered once again! Just like in her previous works, Tea’s latest offering, The Talented Mrs Greenway,  is yet another engaging and masterfully crafted story. Not only does Tea’s latest tale provide a truly engaging story about the early days of colonial Sydney but also she melds fact and fiction to present yet another strong female character from history. 

‘Is there any way I can help?’ 

‘You? How can you help? I am the government architect.’ 

‘And I am the architect’s wife.’

Tea is to be congratulated for presenting such a rich and comprehensive tale. The settings both in England and Australia are authentic, particularly with the incorporation of real life events such as those occurring during Governor Macquarie’s leadership. It is the everyday cultural feel of everything from the early days of George Street, to unmade roads, to the humid heat of a Sydney summer -  Tea effortlessly includes the reader seamlessly into her riveting tale.

‘… her name may never be recorded but nothing, nothing could take away this moment, the sense of achievement and pride coursing through her.’

What is truly special here is how little Tea had to go on. Yes, this is a thoroughly researched tale of Sydney’s early days, however, of Mary Greenway herself, Tea had little to go on. To so cleverly reimagine how events could have played out was a masterstroke! I knew of Francis Greenway (loved the eccentric take on this man) and his role as architect in many of the early constructed buildings. So, how imaginative and brave to take a few facts and turn it around into a completely believable tale, weaving fiction and fact together, to present the woman behind the man. Well done Tea!

‘We may not be able to publicly admit your role but it should be acknowledged between ourselves. My talented wife - what would I do without you?’

From strong protagonists, to family and social drama , to taking in the early days of colonial Sydney - I can highly recommend the tale that is, The Talented Mrs Greenway.

‘Perhaps in one hundred years’ time she too would be remembered.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review: The Butterfly Collector

Title: The Butterfly Collector

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 3rd November 2022 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 400 pages

Genre: historical fiction 

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

What connects a botanical illustration of a butterfly with a missing baby and an enigma fifty years in the making? A twisty historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author.

1868 Morpeth Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family's country estate than she is finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby, so she cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before sighted in Australia. With the help of Clarrie, her maid, and her beautiful illustrations, she is poised to make a natural science discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie's new-born son goes missing and everything changes.

1922 Sydney When would-be correspondent Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball on the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to go. Her late grandfather Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation - an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as she begins to dig, her investigation quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery, a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

My Thoughts

A new Australian historical fiction book by Tea Cooper always gives reason to celebrate as her books guarantee great escapism. I have enjoyed all of Tea’s previous works as they have proven to be consistently engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue. Much like Theodora’s paintings in the novel, Tea has beautifully captured time and place in this wonderful story. 

‘She was different, she knew she was. She'd always known. Something was out there waiting for her and one day she would grasp it between her fingers and know her search had ended.’

In her latest offering, The Butterfly Collector, Tea writes a dual timeline narrative set in New South Wales 1868 and 1922. I appreciated the close proximity of the timelines with familial links as it enriched the story with aligned connections. Rich in research, Tea details two interesting events from this period in Australia. One is the fascinating story of initial sightings of the Monarch butterfly in Australia; the other, the much darker tale of what became of many babies from unwed mothers of the period. Another theme surrounded women’s independence, especially after WW1 and insights into such things as the advent of the bicycle providing more freedom - something I had never really considered before. 

Congratulations Tea on once again proving your prose is up there with the best. From strong protagonists, to family drama and mystery, to the breathtaking vistas of the bush with the magnificent flight of the butterflies - I highly recommend the tale that is, The Butterfly Collector with its tale of strength and persistence. 

‘… each individual butterfly hovered and danced above the sea of flowers, their first taste of nectar giving them strength for the moment they'd ensure their species survival.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Fossil Hunter

Title: The Fossil Hunter

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 27th October 2021 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, mystery 

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A fossil discovered at London's Natural History Museum leads one woman back in time to nineteenth century Australia and a world of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery.

Wollombi, The Hunter Valley 1847

The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush as a monster chases her - but no one believes her story. In a bid to curb Mellie's overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur palaeontologist with a dream. She is convinced she will one day find proof the great sea dragons - the ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur - swam in the vast inland sea that millions of years ago covered her property at Bow Wow Gorge, and soon Mellie shares that dream for she loves fossil hunting too...

1919

When Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War 1 with the intention of making her peace with her father and commemorating the death of her two younger brothers in the trenches, her reception is not as she had hoped. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London's Natural History museum and her brothers which leads her to Bow Wow Gorge. But the gorge has a sinister reputation - 70 years ago people disappeared. So when PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, it seems as if the past is reaching into the present and she becomes determined to discover what really happened all that time ago...

My Thoughts

‘In this moment she recognised that her curiosity about the past - this house, Bow Wow Gorge, its fossils and Anthea Winstanley - had become a consuming passion. Who was the elusive woman and what had made her leave this place?’

A new Australian historical fiction book by Tea Cooper is reason to celebrate as she guarantees great escapism. I have enjoyed all of Tea’s previous works as they have proven to be consistently engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue. 

In her latest offering, The Fossil Hunter, Tea provides the perfect blend of fact and fiction in a riveting historical mystery. Giving her readers a dual narrative timeline set in the years 1847 and 1919, Tea has cleverly placed both people and incidents that let her readers gather all the clues to place together for a satisfying conclusion. 

‘You have to be patient. You can look, and look, and see nothing and then the next moment the very thing you’ve been searching for is right in front of your eyes, where it has sat forever. It’s a lot like life.’

I fully appreciated how the mysteries of the past lent beautifully into the present timeline of discovery. I felt the themes ranging from folklore to scientific discoveries, or bullying and PTSD were sensitively presented by Tea. Along with unique characters and family secrets, Tea included such fascinating information on fossil collecting and interesting scientific revelations. 

‘Only at Bow Wow, beneath the dense canopy of the trees, did Anthea truly find peace, the place where the layers of life reached back to the beginning of time, before a single human had walked the land, before the earth solidified. From the towering sandstone cliffs to the meandering creek, which over millions of years had carved a narrow winding gorge, the landscape had slowly revealed its secrets.’

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 fossil discoveries in Lyme Regis in England. It is the everyday cultural feel, from traipsing down Bow Wow Gorge in the Hunter Valley, to visiting the Natural Museum in London that Tea effortlessly includes the reader so seamlessly into her riveting tale.

Congratulations Tea on once again proving your prose is up there with the best. From strong protagonists, to family drama and mystery, to the breathtaking vistas of the bush - I highly recommend the tale that is, The Fossil Hunter.

‘PJ took one last look at the dappled gorge and, tucking the fossil in her pocket, left behind the fascinating secrets of Bow Wow Gorge, regret prickling her skin.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Cartographer's Secret

Title: The Cartographer's Secret

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 29th October 2020 by Harlequin Australia

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: women’s fiction, historical fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A young woman's quest to heal a family rift entangles her in one of Australia's greatest historical puzzles when an intricately illustrated map offers a clue to the fate of a long-lost girl. A mesmerising historical mystery set in the Hunter Valley from bestselling author Tea Cooper for readers of Natasha Lester and Kate Morton.

1880 The Hunter Valley

Evie Ludgrove loves to map the landscape around her home - hardly surprising since she grew up in the shadow of her father's obsession with the great Australian explorer Dr Ludwig Leichhardt. So when an advertisement appears in The Bulletin magazine offering a one thousand pound reward for proof of where Leichhardt met his fate, Evie is determined to figure it out - after all, there are clues in her father's papers and in the archives of The Royal Geographical Society. But when Evie sets out to prove her theory she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a mystery that taints everyone's lives for 30 years.

1911

When Letitia Rawlings arrives at the family estate in her Model T Ford, her purpose is to inform her Great Aunt Olivia of a bereavement. But Letitia is also escaping her own problems - her brother's sudden death, her mother's scheming and her own dissatisfaction with the life planned out for her. So when Letitia discovers a beautifully illustrated map that might hold a clue to the fate of her missing aunt, Evie Ludgrove, her curiosity is aroused and she sets out to discover the truth of Evie's disappearance.

But all is not as it seems at Yellow Rock estate and as events unfold, Letitia begins to realise that solving the mystery of her family's past could offer as much peril as redemption.

My Thoughts

A new Australian historical fiction book by Tea Cooper always gives reason to celebrate. So many of her previous works (HERE) are both engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue that allow her readers to journey alongside strong heroines and enticing tales. In her latest, The Cartographer’s Secret, Tea once again provides the perfect blend of fact and fiction in this riveting historical mystery.

‘The past twelve months have taught me that we must take what we can when it is offered, 

pay no heed to convention and expectation. We must grab happiness in both hands and embrace it.’

A dual time narrative (on this occasion) not separated by that many years. This is the story of a mysterious disappearance. Filled with engaging characters who have hidden secrets, there is much heartache and tragedy. In 1880 Evie is so sweet and so very talented - I love that the publishers included her map for us to pour over. It is exquisite. In 1911 we have Letitia (Lettie) and she is such a woman of her time, driving cars and searching for her purpose. In her attempts to solve the family mystery, does she dig a little too far and cause nothing but further upset and disruption?

‘... in that moment Lettie understood, understood that both she and Olivia carried the same pain. A pain that would never go away, should never go away. Because love and loss hurt. She couldn’t give up now, she owed it to Olivia, to help her at least find closure.’

In both timelines the angst, guilt and sense of loss is palpable. Tea invites you into what, for many, is a hard existence on the land and she opens that proverbial window to life on the land at the turn of the 20th century. This brings me onto the setting - The Hunter Valley region. Stunningly portrayed. Both the detail and research provided by Tea leaps off the page - what joy to read passages with such depth of feeling about the Australian outback. From the harsh reality of fire to beautiful blazing sunsets, Tea makes you feel as if you are there. 

What an outstanding array of Aussie authors we are currently blest with! Congratulations Tea on once again proving your prose is up there with the best. From strong protagonists, to family drama and mystery, to taking in the breathtaking vistas of the bush - I can highly recommend the tale that is, The Cartographer’s Secret.

‘Evie tilted her face to the sun and threw out her arms to embrace the view that encompassed her world: from the ancient rocks beneath her bare feet to the distant horizon where the pale pink clouds marked the division between reality and mystery. All she needed and all she had ever wanted. This was her place, where she belonged.’

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