A cursed opal, a gnarled family tree, and a sinister woman in a green dress emerge in the aftermath of World War I.
After a whirlwind romance, London teashop waitress Fleur Richards can’t wait for her new husband, Hugh, to return from the Great War. But when word of his death arrives on Armistice Day, Fleur learns he has left her a sizable family fortune. Refusing to accept the inheritance, she … accept the inheritance, she heads to his beloved home country of Australia in search of the relatives who deserve it more.
In spite of her reluctance, she soon finds herself the sole owner of a remote farm and a dilapidated curio shop full of long-forgotten artifacts, remarkable preserved creatures, and a mystery that began more than sixty-five years ago. With the help of Kip, a repatriated soldier dealing with the sobering aftereffects of war, Fleur finds herself unable to resist pulling on the threads of the past. What she finds is a shocking story surrounding an opal and a woman in a green dress. . . a story that, nevertheless, offers hope and healing for the future.
This romantic mystery from award-winning Australian novelist Tea Cooper will keep readers guessing until the astonishing conclusion.
“Readers of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams will be dazzled. The Woman in the Green Dress spins readers into an evocative world of mystery and romance in this deeply researched book by Tea Cooper. There is a Dickensian flair to Cooper’s carefully constructed world of lost inheritances and found treasures as two indomitable women stretched across centuries work to reconcile their pasts while reclaiming love, identity and belonging against two richly moving historical settings. As soon as you turn the last page you want to start again just to see how every last thread is sewn in anticipation of its thrilling conclusion. One of the most intelligent, visceral and vibrant historical reads I have had the privilege of visiting in an age.” —Rachel McMillan, author of The London Restoration
“Refreshing and unique, The Woman in the Green Dress sweeps you across the wild lands of Australia in a thrilling whirl of mystery, romance, and danger. This magical tale weaves together two storylines with a heart-pounding finish that is drop-dead gorgeous.” —J’nell Ciesielski, author of The Socialite
- Full-length historical story with both romance and mystery
- Stand-alone novel
- Includes Discussion Questions for Book Clubs
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My Comments: This dual time line story started out a little confusing on the switch back and forth but the longer I read, the clearer it all became. It was interesting to read about Australia during the time period when it sounded like the old west. In 1853, Della is the main character. She is a taxidermist who sends her completed items to a Curio Shop in Sydney. In 1918, Della has just found out that her husband died in the war and has left his estate in Australia to her. She travels to Australia from London but since she is convinced that he didn’t die, she at first refuses his estate. She is also the owner of the Curio Shop that is boarded up. As she tries to find out more about her husband’s life and financial holdings, she finds herself trying to discover the mystery behind the curio shop
I didn’t connect with any of the characters in this book which means that I liked it but didn’t love it. It is however, a very interesting look at Australia during two very different time periods. I found the descriptions of the countryside to be very intriguing and interesting. Overall, it’s a very interesting book and well worth reading.
The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper is a time-slip novel with two historical timelines, one in the 1850s in Australia and the other just after the end of WWI in England/Australia.
I am new to time-slip novels, but I was fascinated by this one. I am a huge historical fiction fan, so it was perfection for me to have both timelines be historical. And the author does an amazing job painting the setting for readers. The exotic and sun-filled landscape of Australia was made vivid and alive.
The one thing I love about time-slips is making the one big connection between timelines. Sometimes they are obvious, but in The Woman in the Green Dress, I felt you had to really delve into the story and characters to understand all the intricately woven details between generations. It was a fascinating journey, and one that is entirely satisfactory in the end.
The characters are all carefully crafted and memorable for one reason or another. It is difficult to pick a favorite, but I did love Fleur’s tenacity, Bert’s cheekiness, and the Captain’s unwavering honor. They will all stay with you well after you close the book!
Any fan of historical fiction or time-slip novels will appreciate this story. You won’t want to put it down until you have every question answered!
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.
Tea Cooper is an Australian writer who has a number of titles under her belt, but The Woman in the Green Dress is the first novel published by her from Thomas Nelson Publishing. As most American readers are not familiar with the Australian landscape, Cooper had to describe a lot of scenery for us to image where Della and Fleur interacted with. She did a good job. I loved hanging out in the Curio Shop. I wanted to see more and more of that shop from the past and 1919. The story is a time-slip novel, but both story lines actually take place in the past. 1853 and 1919 are the two time frames. The plot is interesting and different. It isn’t like anything I had ever read before. Definitely kept my attention. There really isn’t a lot of romance in either time period. It is more about solving the mystery for Fleur and coming to reality with her life for Della. Overall, Tea Cooper crafted a delightful historical story that invites readers down under but captures their attention with the mystery. Fans of Karen Witemeyer and Melissa Jaguers might enjoy this novel too.
I received a complimentary copy of The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.
Step back in time with this uniquely haunting tale spanning two intertwining timelines set predominantly in Australia. In this fascinating story of an unwanted inheritance, fiery opals, exotic animal taxidermy, a white kangaroo, and a mysterious woman in a green dress, the author weaves a tale that cleverly draws the reader in deeper and deeper to follow the twisty plot of the story.
The first timeline begins in 1919 when Fleur Richards, a young war bride, inherits an estate in Australia from her husband Hugh about which she knows absolutely nothing. Upon traveling to Australia to resolve issues with the inheritance, she finds herself drawn into a rather peculiar situation with a group of unique characters that tie back to the story that unfolds in the second timeline. The story in the second timeline draws Fleur back in family history to the year 1853 and a place called Mogo Creek, a name with which she is familiar.
Travel with Fleur as the story of Captain Stefan Von Richter, an explorer and opal hunter, and Della Atterton, the owner of the Curio Shop of Wonders, unfolds to reveal the layers of a complicated family history. Interspersed with fiction based on historical facts, this intriguing story is a complex tale that readers of mysteries and family drama will enjoy.
This ARC copy was received from Thomas Nelsons and Netgalley.com. The above thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.
#TheWomanInTheGreenDress #NetGalley
The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper most definitely challenged my expectations. I was anticipating an Australian romance, and though there was a hint of that, I found myself instead engulfed in a time split mystery of murder, cursed stones, and a search for a lost inheritance.
Cooper really does an outstanding job of holding her reader’s attention. As one who loves history, the combination of Australia in the 1850s interwoven with WWI was intriguing. Opal mining, taxidermy, arsenic, and the mistreatment of the native people all come to play as the reader is swept upon a journey to discover truth amid the darkest of secrets.
This book is not a light read, but one will keep your head spinning! I’m going to keep my eye out for more from this author!
I received this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
4.5/5 stars rounded up! This book is incredible! It is a dual-timeline story that is filled with mystery, history, romance, and so much more! Every single time I picked up “The Woman in the Green Dress”, I felt like I was whisked away back in time to two different, yet connected, eras!
This is the first book I have read by Tea Cooper, and I can’t wait to read many more! Her writing is transcendent, and she brings the times, characters, locations, and world to life in such a visceral way. She truly made the mid-1800s and early 1900s feel so real, and I felt like the transitions between the two were seamless. I can tell she is so passionate about what she is writing, and I can only imagine the amount of research that went into this book.
If you love historical fiction, historical mystery, and or just want an extremely intriguing novel to read, I highly recommend this book! It had me turning the pages and trying to connect the dots chapter after chapter. I guessed part of the mystery (no spoilers!), and my mouth certainly dropped at everything else! SO GOOD! I could not wait to see how all the puzzle pieces of this novel came together. How Ms. Cooper tied in the characters’ story lines and the mystery surrounding the opal, etc., was absolutely brilliant!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson–Fiction for an ARC of this book, and to Thomas Nelson–Fiction for sending me a physical ARC as well! I really enjoyed it!
Good read! Really enjoyed learning about Australia through the storyline.
So nice to find a new author.
Always like the Australian stories.
Good read. Different plot than most novels.
This book was confusing, flipped and flopped around with it’s timeline. I’ve known about the arsenic in this color of green for years. The ending didn’t make a lot of sense. The events in the story for the most part weren’t explained, maybe implied, but for me, this book was a waste of time.
Historically interesting mystery
Loved it…I was caught up in the characters from page one and couldn’t put the book down until I had every angle of this multi-generational mystery revealed!
The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper is a historical novel told with alternating points-of-view. The main POVs are Fleur Richards from 1918, Della who lives on a farm in Mogo Creek in 1853, and Stefan von Richter in 1853. I had trouble with the alternating point-of-view. When it jumps around, I cannot get into the story (and it is confusing in the beginning). The second half of the story was better and easier to read. The Woman in the Green Dress is what I call a slow starter. I would have liked a better introduction to our main characters instead of just thrown into the story. The Woman in the Green Dress has Fleur Richards wanting to learn more about her husband, Hugh. They married quickly and then he was off to fight. She had no idea that he had property in Australia. When Fleur arrives in Australia, she sets out to learn about Hugh Richards and his family. I like how everything tied together in the end. The Woman in the Green Dress has a good premise, but I wanted more depth, feeling, and details. The Woman in the Green Dress is a story about greed, deceit, murder, jealousy, taxidermy, secrets, a curio shop, a cursed opal, and one determined woman.
This book was not for me. I like the author’s style, and her use of detailed descriptions and figurative language is superb, but the dual plot did not work for me. The 1919 plot was interesting, but the 1853 one was confusing, and I could not get interested in it at all. I would have tried to finish the book to find out how it all worked together, but language that I deemed inappropriate and had not expected to find spoiled it for me.
I received a copy of this book in e-book form from the publisher via netgalley but am under no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
This is the first book I have read by Ms. Cooper. I found the story line to be quite good. At first I was a little confused when it kept bouncing from 1919 to 1853. As I kept reading, it started to make more since to me. When the book first starts Fleur doesn’t want to acknowledge that Hugh is actually dead. She hopes he is waiting for her on his farm in Australia. She doesn’t want his money so she goes looking any next of kin that she can find. What she finds is a mystery. With the help of an old man she goes on a hunt for Hugh’s belongings.
The only negative I found with this book was the swearing that took place here and there. I was disappointed to see it from a Christian publisher like Thomas Nelson. I would give it a four star rating if it wasn’t for that.
I was given this book by Thomas Nelson Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.