There is always just a thread, or a snippet of information, that is the inspiration for a story. For Cooper, that was a 280-year-old yellow silk damask dress found in a calico bag in the attic of Old Government House, Parramatta.
When invited to view it on display at Maitland, she knew there was a story there begging to be told, particularly when one of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) students who had helped restore it told her they had found spots of blood on a sleeve.
So Cooper has devised a story set in the late 1800s, centred on a Maitland family, but a lot of the action takes place at Old Government House, Parramatta, by then a guesthouse.
Covering several decades, the plot includes an early discovery of gold west of Sydney, not made public because the governor at the time thought it would cause chaos in the early colonial society; a dashing prospector and his love interest, a maid at the new Government House in Sydney; historical events such as the opening of the new Hawkesbury River rail bridge and the new Maitland racecourse, with races formerly held in the grounds of a local inn.
The activities and motivations of Nell, a Maitland grandmother who goes missing, and her grand-daughter Connie, who finds her at Parramatta, come off the pages at a glacial pace in this historical mystery, but then life WAS slower in those 1889 times.
Cooper has captured well the social mores of the time, with Nell horrified at the almost masculine dress of a young woman working in a solicitor’s office; and the new practice of young women having pockets in their skirts and dresses.
There is intrigue, conspiracy, attempted blackmail, theft, and of course, that historic yellow silk damask dress.
Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Téa Cooper is an Australian author of historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.
For many years writing remained the stuff of fantasy. Her family, a herd of alpacas, a protea farm and a full time teaching job kept her occupied until one day she decided it was time to do or die. No more procrastination. The characters and plots that had lived in her head for so long were clamouring to escape.
In August 2011 Tea joined Romance Writers of Australia and her debut novel Tree Change was published in November 2012. She has written several Australian rural stories both contemporary and historical but more recently she has become enmeshed in twisty historical mysteries.
Tea is a member of the Historical Novel Society of Australasia, The Australian Society of Authors, and Sisters in Crime. She is currently working on her next historical mystery.
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