In the 1860s, Michael and Elizabeth Quinn’s parents emigrated to Australia with the plan that teenaged Michael would soon follow with his then baby sister, Elizabeth. I forget why because I took too long to review this book, as happens too often with my very favorite reads, but Michael has to leave school and go to work. Elizabeth, too young to care for herself ends up in the poorhouse for a time. Just as they are about to leave England to join their parents, the building she lives in burns down and many are killed. Michael locates her among the children and they sail to meet their parents, whom Elizabeth forgets completely. Tea Cooper creates vivid imagery of what it was like to take such a long journey, to arrive at your destination and find your parents are not there to meet you, to learn your mother has died and your father is far away in a town where they settled. Elizabeth is too young to travel so far. Mrs. Cameron takes her in, for pay and Michael travels to the town where he finds his father is dying. Over time, and through periods of poverty, Michael finds a career and Elizabeth and he move into a lovely home. They run an auction house. They are wealthy and beloved.
But the Quinns never forget their poor beginnings in Australia. There is an orphanage they sponsor and they directly help some of the girls, employing them in the household when they get older or helping to connect them to adoptive parents. One orphan, Jane Piper, stands out. From a young age, the Quinns have been aware that this little girl is brilliant. She needs higher education. In 1913, the Quinns bring Jane into their home and make her job attending high school and then college. The three of them become family. Ultimately, Jane joins the auction house as its finance person.
The community is set to have an exhibit of a British artist. When Elizabeth and Jane stop by the technical college where it is being set up, one of the paintings stirs something in Elizabeth, who has a spell of sorts. At first, it seems to just be an odd experience, but Elizabeth becomes increasingly distressed. Over time, she becomes quite ill. The doctor is running out of options. Jane is desperate to help her mother figure and Michael is terribly concerned. What happened that day?
With this novel, the audio version, Tea Cooper became a favorite writer for me. Her novels develop characters, places in time on a day to day basis, share the political and social context of the times her characters live in, paint a backdrop of the towns and countrysides they populate and more. The Girl in the Painting made me feel present in each of the eras portrayed and to believe anything and everything Tea Cooper had to sell to me. She has a tremendous gift. I’ve only read one more of her novels, the newest, but more are in my TBR pile on audible and in my Kindle. If you enjoy historical fiction, new places, great characters and clever, engaging plotting and writing, try this and her other work. I enjoyed the narration as well.
They Called me Bookworm 