A touch of the macabre, tragic on many levels, and so distinctively Australian!
The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper
I fairly raced through this tale, although I hesitated. I felt it was going to be complex. I was right. Atmospheric, at times oppressive, this is a dynamic historical read with mysterious overtones.
Unknown to us the story is woven around the supposed discovery of the first opal in Australia. To my mind that takes a secondary place, and yet it bubbles along under the surface almost as a raison d'être. Stefan von Richter journeys to 1853 Sydney to trace the opal and have its authenticity verified for his former mentor.
The action shifts between 1853 and 1920's Sydney and the Hawksbury region. (I am reminded that the marvellous Kate Grenville writes historical fiction centered around this region) Della Atterton spends her time on the family property at Mogo Creek out beyond Wisemans Ferry and St Albans in the Upper Hawksbury region of New South Wales, practicing her taxidermist craft. Living on land important to the Darkinjung people. We time shift constantly from Della the taxidermist's daughter to the widowed Fleur Richards.
1918 London and Corporal Hugh Richards married Fleur. Hugh dies in the war and Fleur discovers that she has inherited property in Australia. Distraught, after a momentous inner struggle she embarks for Australia to investigate.
As we move between the two women's stories Fleur's investigations reveal Della. I was so present when Fleur followed in her footsteps.
I was caught up in Della's concern for the traditional owners of the land that encompass Mogo Creek. She seems to understand the link of the Aboriginals with their traditional land. Her distress at their treatment by Cordelia's men who stole artifacts and more was heartfelt, as is her love of Mogo Creek.
Hunting down a lead in the area and anxious to meet up with Cordelia's men, Stefan von Richter finds Della, at an opportune moment. Della's aunt Cordelia runs Della's taxidermist shop, the Curio shop, in Sydney. From the outset there is something is off here. Who is the woman in the green dress? When Stefan first meets Cordelia at the shop he thinks her as "bizarre and unusual" as in turn is the shop. He notes the "virulent green of her dress; Scheele’s Green." "Virulent!" A curious descriptive to use! Malignant and Scheele's Green? I looked it up. A poisonous pigment apparently. Here the color green is associated with arsenic used in taxidermy, also for ensuring a particular green for wallpaper, or to hold that color in young woman's dresses. "There’s a reason they’re called drop-dead gorgeous. They are dancing in a cloud of arsenic powder."
Della's world will come crashing down after her meeting with Stefan and the actions of Cordelia's men.
A complex story that weaves history and fiction in such an amazing way. Cooper's writing is a gem, the story is darkly powerful. The way other characters and their descendants are given place in the tale is amazing.
My attention was grabbed from the beginning. Normally I dislike time shift novels but Cooper's handling of the time divisions, as one informs the other, is brilliant.
Reading this against the current events of BLM movement sweeping the world, I am once again reminded of the stained undercurrent of Australia's poor record with regard to Indigenous Australians, inhabitants of the land for over 60,000 years.
Cooper's acknowledgement of the indigenous owners of the land in the Hawksbury region where part of the story was set is fitting
"I would like to acknowledge the Darkinjung and Eora people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live, work, play, and have set this story, and pay my respects to Elders both past and present."
A Thomas Nelson ARC via NetGalley
*****
Unknown to us the story is woven around the supposed discovery of the first opal in Australia. To my mind that takes a secondary place, and yet it bubbles along under the surface almost as a raison d'être. Stefan von Richter journeys to 1853 Sydney to trace the opal and have its authenticity verified for his former mentor.
The action shifts between 1853 and 1920's Sydney and the Hawksbury region. (I am reminded that the marvellous Kate Grenville writes historical fiction centered around this region) Della Atterton spends her time on the family property at Mogo Creek out beyond Wisemans Ferry and St Albans in the Upper Hawksbury region of New South Wales, practicing her taxidermist craft. Living on land important to the Darkinjung people. We time shift constantly from Della the taxidermist's daughter to the widowed Fleur Richards.
1918 London and Corporal Hugh Richards married Fleur. Hugh dies in the war and Fleur discovers that she has inherited property in Australia. Distraught, after a momentous inner struggle she embarks for Australia to investigate.
As we move between the two women's stories Fleur's investigations reveal Della. I was so present when Fleur followed in her footsteps.
I was caught up in Della's concern for the traditional owners of the land that encompass Mogo Creek. She seems to understand the link of the Aboriginals with their traditional land. Her distress at their treatment by Cordelia's men who stole artifacts and more was heartfelt, as is her love of Mogo Creek.
Hunting down a lead in the area and anxious to meet up with Cordelia's men, Stefan von Richter finds Della, at an opportune moment. Della's aunt Cordelia runs Della's taxidermist shop, the Curio shop, in Sydney. From the outset there is something is off here. Who is the woman in the green dress? When Stefan first meets Cordelia at the shop he thinks her as "bizarre and unusual" as in turn is the shop. He notes the "virulent green of her dress; Scheele’s Green." "Virulent!" A curious descriptive to use! Malignant and Scheele's Green? I looked it up. A poisonous pigment apparently. Here the color green is associated with arsenic used in taxidermy, also for ensuring a particular green for wallpaper, or to hold that color in young woman's dresses. "There’s a reason they’re called drop-dead gorgeous. They are dancing in a cloud of arsenic powder."
Della's world will come crashing down after her meeting with Stefan and the actions of Cordelia's men.
A complex story that weaves history and fiction in such an amazing way. Cooper's writing is a gem, the story is darkly powerful. The way other characters and their descendants are given place in the tale is amazing.
My attention was grabbed from the beginning. Normally I dislike time shift novels but Cooper's handling of the time divisions, as one informs the other, is brilliant.
Reading this against the current events of BLM movement sweeping the world, I am once again reminded of the stained undercurrent of Australia's poor record with regard to Indigenous Australians, inhabitants of the land for over 60,000 years.
Cooper's acknowledgement of the indigenous owners of the land in the Hawksbury region where part of the story was set is fitting
"I would like to acknowledge the Darkinjung and Eora people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live, work, play, and have set this story, and pay my respects to Elders both past and present."
A Thomas Nelson ARC via NetGalley
*****
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