The Cartographer's Secret

By: Tea Cooper

Narrated by: Casey Withoos

A map into the past. A long-lost young woman. And a thirty-year family mystery.

The Hunter Valley, 1880. Evie Ludgrove loves to chart the landscape around her home - hardly surprising since she grew up in the shadow of her father’s obsession with the great Australian explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt. So when an advertisement appears in The Bulletin magazine offering a thousand-pound reward for proof of where Leichhardt met his fate, Evie is determined to use her father’s papers to unravel the secret. But when Evie sets out to prove her theory, she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a mystery that haunts her family for thirty years.

Letitia Rawlings arrives at the family estate in her Ford Model T to inform her great-aunt Olivia of a loss in their family. But Letitia is also escaping her own problems - her brother’s sudden death, her mother’s scheming, and her dissatisfaction with the life planned out for her. So when Letitia discovers a beautifully illustrated map that might hold a clue to the fate of her missing aunt, Evie Ludgrove, she sets out to discover the truth. But all is not as it seems, and Letitia begins to realize that solving the mystery of her family’s past could offer as much peril as redemption.

A gripping historical mystery for fans of Kate Morton and Natasha Lester’s The Paris Seamstress, The Cartographer’s Secret follows a young woman’s quest to heal a family rift as she becomes entangled in one of Australia’s greatest historical puzzles.

“A galvanizing, immersive adventure...forcing the characters to reckon with the choice found at the crux of passion and loyalty and the power of shared blood that can either destroy or heal.” (Joy Callaway, international bestselling author of The Fifth Avenue Artists Society)

• Daphne du Maurier Award Winner, 2021
• Historical story with both romance and mystery
• Full-length, stand-alone novel (c. 104,000 words)
• Also by Tea Cooper: The Woman in the Green Dress and The Girl in the Painting

©2021 Tea Cooper (P)2021 Thomas Nelson

I'm conflicted as how to rate this book.

I looked forward to, and enjoyed, listening to the book most of the time. I did not like the parts of the book where Evie was being voiced. the pitch was very high and grading to listen to. the same I would say for the lorrie character in many instances. whenever she was upset about something, she seemed very irritating as a character. I don't know if that is because of the way her voice sounded, it was a bit streaky, or if that was just the character. I feel like I might have enjoyed it better reading it than hearing the way she would be shrieky.


SPOILER

at the end of the book, I realized that the plot points of the book were no longer actually interesting as they didn't really get followed up or tied up very well. so it's hard for me to know how to read it because what was interesting to me about the book as I was reading turned out to not be very interesting by the time the book was over.

Wonderful read

I enjoyed this book immensely. Tea Cooper has excellent talent developing her characters and describing the surroundings of the story, the land, environment and history. This is my second book by this author and I am drawn in by the characters and I feel I am in the room with them.

Needed a distinction between timelines

Often the book shifted between then and now, without a pause. I had troubles keeping up with the narrators switch, especially at first . I thought it would have benefited from more historical context and I also wanted a conclusion to the story, a definitive answer to the mystery.

Highly recommend

This is truly one of my favorites, and the narrator was exceptional. Loved everything about this book. I’ve read other books from this particular author, and she never disappoints.

Loved it.

I loved everything about this book. It was a beautiful story. The performance was lovely.

Fantastic historical fiction!

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Tea Cooper's books thus far and The Cartographer's Secret was no exception. This book was so good - partly because the setting and plot were completely unique and different. I was transported. The audio performance was also very good!

Delightful

A refreshing novel with a hint of mystery and tiny bit of romance. Well written and engaging.

Enjoyable

Great story and narration. Held my interest throughout. My only criticism would be in that some parts of the story fell flat. What happened to Fred Parker? Seemed like there was going to be more story developed with that character and the dog Oxli (did he dig something up) but then nothing developed. Spoiler alert He seemed rather sinister. Plus he said he found the leather bag in the cave. How was it supposed to have gotten there. Why wasn’t it burned since supposedly they died in a fire. What was the point of Parker burning the papers? Left me with too many questions about the storyline at that point. But, overall I enjoyed listening!

rather uneventful story

a lot more could have been made out of this book. the historical notes at the end were the most enlightening.

slow beginning

I almost stopped listening but thankful I didn't.
I was a bit confused in the beginning, but midway I got it straight.
enjoyable.