This is a story set in two time zones in Australia. It begins in 1918 during WW1 when a young, new bride learns of her husband’s death. She discovers that she is the only heir to his wealth in Australia and she has to travel from England to Australia to deal with it. When she arrives the time line reverts to 1853 as the reader discovers the source of the wealth and legends. The story leads the reader through the histories of both Sydney and the countryside of Hawkesbury. It was part romance and part history and very much mystery as she tries to find the missing opal that is linked to her inheritance. The characters are well defined and likeable and you keep reading just to solve the mystery in the Old Curio Shop of Wonders and Taxidermy. Tea Cooper wove a great story. It was little hard to follow at first but once you got into the swing of the two time frames and understood the characters it grabbed your attention.

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.

I absoultetly loved this book and how it dives into a very unknown history,I learned a lot and loved the characters!

This was a sweet story of a WW1 bride going to live in her husband’s home country of Australia after the war and discovering the legacy of his family.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for letting me read an advanced copy of The Woman in the Green Dress. I am someone who loves reading about World War 1 and what transpired in various places in the world. This book starts the day the Armistice treaty was signed, signaling the end of the Great War. Fleur has been waiting for her new husband to return from war and take her back to Australia. Instead, she finds out he died days before the treaty was signed and she is now the owner of properties in Australia, the main one being a Curio store. This Curio store transported the story back to the 1800s and a quest to find an opal. This book transports you seamlessly from time to time and would reocmmend if you are looking for a world war 1 romance novel.

The beautiful settings in post WWI Sydney, Australia as well as the rural aboriginal areas outside of Sydney, as young widow Fleur Richards tries to reconcile what she thought she knew of her deceased husband’s life and what is presented to her in an unwanted inheritance. Well written with a beautiful sense of time and place. The author does an exceptional job of tying characters and time periods together and with the unraveling of a mystery. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fleur Richards celebrates the end of the Great War with everyone else in London, knowing that any day now, her beloved husband Hugh will return. Together they’ll leave the dreary life Fleur has always known and explore Australia—Hugh’s homeland.

But a letter awaits her in her boarding room, one that sends her to Australia alone and in search of answers.

When Captain Stefan von Richter arrives in Sydney, Australia in 1853, he has two tasks for his patron—find the opal and transcribe his field notes. Seemingly simple tasks that turn out nowhere close to simple.

His trek takes him to the Curio Shop of Wonders at 84 Hunter Street, and from there miles into the heart of Australia where he meets a mysterious woman.

Two continents, two centuries, and the Curio Shop of Wonders hold this lush novel together. The mysterious opal, the possible curse, and a woman’s stubborn desire to uncover the truth will keep readers turning pages.

Cooper, an Australian author, also highlights Australia’s treatment of its indigenous people in this sweeping historical novel. I appreciate it when authors don’t sugarcoat history through a white lens.

This is an interesting historical fiction novel involving two very strong and determined women from different generations. The setting is Australia and the author depicts the landscape, the indigenous people and the secrets of long ago so very well. It's also a love story and a mystery with characters hard to forget.

This is a generation book. I love the way this author tells two stories in one book. It shows the past and how the landscape looked and the difference in the culture. It also talks about the abuse of the natives. You have love, murder, bad luck, intrigue, war and bias of different nationalities. A good read.

This book started out a little slow, but got better. I had a hard time keeping the different characters and places straight. When I started reading this book, I didn’t pay much attention to the dates that were given, and then I would be lost because the author would jump from the book’s present time to it’s past. I realized that if I paid attention to the dates that were given, I would know if the author was going to jump into the past or stay in the book’s present.
Fleur is a newly wed woman who does not want to believe that her new husband has died in the war. She is forced to make a trip to Australia to claim her husband’s fortune. The person who is supposed to help her claim her husband’s money and land is a total scatter brain, and with some help from Kip, Fleur is forced to uncover things on her own. Wile Fleur is doing her stuff in the present, the author also takes the readers into the past to explain how certain businesses were started and ran and by whom.
I did like the mystery of this book once it got going.

The Woman in the Green Dress is set in Sydney, NSW, Australia and follows two women, Della in 1853 and Fleur in 1919. I was initially drawn to this book for the setting; my dad grew up in Sydney and I grew up on anecdotes about Australia in the 1970s and 80s. I loved getting a glimpse into Australia before my family settled there. Now, this book is set both in the mid-19th century and the period immediately following World War I, but it wasn't easy to distinguish between the two viewpoints. I often found myself having to flip back to the beginning of chapters to figure out which women is narrating because their voices were not distinct enough. Cooper also doesn't provide enough historical contexts for the two time period settings, which made the distinction between Della and Fleur's point of views even harder to discern. That being said, though, Cooper does a good job intertwining Della and Fleur's stories by anchoring them both to a central location: an eccentric shop called the Curio Shop of Wonders. Della is connected to the Curio Shop because her aunt Cordelia is selling more than just curiosities to customers. Fleur arrives in Sydney carrying out her beloved husband's Hugh's final wishes, and through some seemingly nonsensical legal proceedings, she finds herself the reluctant owner of the now desolate Curio Shop. The Woman in the Green Dress had the potential to be a sweeping, multi-generational drama, but the voices and plot lines simply weren't unique enough.

That being said, though, I think that this book did a lot of things right. Cooper handles Fleur's grief over the loss of her husband so sensitively, even during her denial phase when she refuses to believe that Hugh is dead. Cooper also seamlessly integrates some lesser-known history into The Woman in the Green Dress--the quest to retrieve what was believed to be Australia's first opal in 1853. This quest is central to Della's story, and is something that I knew nothing about. The last 25% of the book is also excellent, nicely tying together Della and Fleur's stories together in a series of action-packed scenes. Overall, though, I wanted to love this book but I didn't.

What a read! This was my first Tea Cooper book, but it will definitely not be my last!

The well developed characters, vivid descriptions of the Australian countryside and the way people lived were fascinating on their own but then the author throws in some deaths and a cursed opal. What's not to love?

We read this book from the perspective of two women: Australian Della Atherton in 1853 and English Fleur Richards, married to an Australian soldier. The book was engrossing and I refused to put it down. I spent the whole day reading it. It's that good. I definitely recommend it.

I would like to thank Tea Cooper, Harper Collins - Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

THE WOMAN IN THE GREEN DRESS is a terrific historical novel with an inspiring message. Fleur is a likable and relatable heroine with strongly defined goals and fierce intelligence. I enjoyed getting to know her and following along as she unraveled a longstanding family mystery. The plot moves along at a nice pace and I never felt my attention lagging. The conclusion satisfied my expectations. Finally, Tea Copper does a great job at describing a scene so that the reader feels present, experiencing first hand the sights, smells, sounds, and emotions. Recommended for fans of clean historical fiction.

This book was full of mystery as it was two historical stories in one. The descriptions were amazing as I felt like I was exploring the outback with Fleur as she investigates her inheritance. The author did a wonderful job of describing the frustrations that Fleur had trying to figure out the tragic past of her deceased husband's family. The history of taxidermy and opal mining added more depth to the story. I enjoyed learning about both throughout the book. I recommend this book to those that enjoy mysteries, historical romance, and colorful descriptions.
I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Woman in the Green Dress is the first book I have read by Tea Cooper. I thought it was a good read. Three stars.

#netgalley #thewomaninthegreendress

This is a story of two woman who were brave, inspiring and had specific goals. It gives you a glimpse into how life was like after WWI. This is the first time I have read this author and I am looking forward to her next book.

Really enjoyed this book, though at first I had a hard time understanding the back and forth between the characters at the start... but once I got beyond that and the main characters interacted it fell into place and I finished the book quickly enjoying the setting and the characters. I would read more from this author and more with these characters. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

I loved this story so much! The story is centered around a cursed opal that connects two different eras. You immediately fall in love with Fleur and Bert, two main characters who are so well developed and likeable that you feel like you know them in real life! The mystery keeps you guessing and never feels dull and the slow burning romance will warm your heart. Looking forward to more from this author!

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Australian historical fiction writer, Tea Cooper, has written an Incredible compelling historical fiction is set in two timelines. Meticulously executed, The Woman in the Green Dress is a stunning atmospheric novel that weaves historical facts with engaging fiction. Della and Fleur are the leading ladies in this storyline that takes the reader between 1919 at the end of the war and in 1853 in colonial New South Wales.
I was taken in by this wonderful mystery, the author gives a creative tale with scientific discovery, and lovely bit of romance.

#TheWomanintheGreenDress #historicalfiction #gwendalyn_books_

The story two woman who were brave, inspirational and knew what they wanted. It gives you a slice of life after WWI. This is the first time I have read this author and am looking forward to her next book.