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!
