The Girl in the Painting

By: Tea Cooper

Narrated by: Casey Withoos

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

An orphaned young math 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.

Praise for The Girl in the Painting

“Combining characters that are wonderfully complex with a story spanning decades of their lives, The Girl in the Painting is a triumph of family, faith, and long-awaited forgiveness. I was swept away!” —Kristy Cambron, bestselling author of The Paris Dressmaker

• Stand-alone novel with rich historical details
• Book length: 102,000 words
• Also by Tea Cooper: The Cartographer’s Secret and The Woman in the Green Dress

©2021 Tea Cooper (P)2021 Thomas Nelson

A Six- Star Review!

The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper is one of the most hauntingly striking audiobooks I have ever listened to. I listen to hundreds of audiobooks each year, and so rarely do I wish I could award six stars to a book that some years I never do. This year, however, I came across two such books, both by the same author.

Besides The Girl in the Painting, The Girl in the Green Dress was the other. These are the only two books by Cooper available on audio, though she also has some historical romances in print or kindle.

Both books are set in Australia and shift back and forth between two eras of history. The Girl in the Green Dress follows a war widow from 1918 who goes to Australia to find her husband and his heritage, switching to the past to visit with his ancestors. In The Girl in the Painting, listeners follow a brother and sister as they arrive in Australia as children and then years later as they are 50 or 60. Both books contain a mystery, but the mystery is so entwined with the storyline that despite hints to the mystery and its solution, the mystery doesn’t become clear until the latter part of the book. So part of the mystery is what the official mystery truly is.

Casey Withoos performs the audio edition of both books and helps to make them magical. She brings out the dramatic elements and eases up during the less intense sections. She does an excellent job of making the books genuine and special.

When I finished each of these two books, I found it lingering in my soul and haunting my thoughts. I loved both books and immediately pre-ordered the next book, The Cartographer’s Secret, due out in November. Though I’m not supposed to give a book more than five stars, I give both of these books six!

Good Story sketchy presentation

I thought the story and the characters were quite interesting but the narrator was so distracting with her loud inhales. I couldn’t finish it it was so annoying

Good book, easy to listen to narration

Good story but the solve at the end was so drawn out, I was thinking how slow can these characters really be? They had seemed intelligent until this point. Otherwise enjoyed it.

enjoyed listening

The Girl In the painting was a good listen. I loom forward to listening to more by this author.

All plot, no substance

The plot was contrived, with no take-away theme, making it a waste of time .

Terrible narration

I wish I would have read the reviews first. What a horrible narrator… the deep heavy breaths are a huge annoyance and distraction. I won’t listen to any books narrated by Casey Withoos unless she learns how to edit the audio.
Wasted credit. Wish I could get a refund.

Great story

kept me intrigued. had to schedule my reading so that I didn't finish it too quickly.