Colours of Gold in Aussie Readers

Oct 14, 2017 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommendation-gr-friend, historical-fiction, own-read, aussie-authors, 2014-release, mystery

Wow! A spectacular novel set in and around Echuca and Melbourne during the goldrush days, The Colours of Gold was an absolute pleasure to read and one that will stay in my thoughts for a long time to come!

Captain Potter and his mate Bluey were contemplating the old barrel which was floating down the Murray River, tumbling in the turbulence while they chugged by in their paddle steamer, the Ariadne when suddenly the Captain noticed something odd. He gestured to Bluey to hurry – they needed to get Wow! A spectacular novel set in and around Echuca and Melbourne during the goldrush days, The Colours of Gold was an absolute pleasure to read and one that will stay in my thoughts for a long time to come!

Captain Potter and his mate Bluey were contemplating the old barrel which was floating down the Murray River, tumbling in the turbulence while they chugged by in their paddle steamer, the Ariadne when suddenly the Captain noticed something odd. He gestured to Bluey to hurry – they needed to get the barrel out of the river. The sight that met their eyes when they prized the lid off gave them both a shock – the small girl inside looked dead. But then she moved…

Annie Reuben had seen the old canvas painting which had been closeted in the basement of a derelict old hotel for many years; she was excited as she recognised it as a Trompe L’oeil, a painting designed to create a three-dimensional illusion. Annie was a restorer of works of art, and part of her father’s business, Reuben & Reuben. She knew this was a work she wanted to restore – she loved a challenge. The two young girls in the picture intrigued Annie. Could she bring the painting back to its former glory?

Alice loved Molly, Captain Potter’s wife – it was she who had named her as Alice had no memory of her past. But the gift which Alice had - being able to see colours around the people she was near – meant people thought she wasn’t right in the head. Her life was destined to get harder – but it was the man in the dark coat who frightened her the most. When Rosey and Alice escaped Echuca and headed for the goldfields, they thought their future would improve. But would it? What would be the future in the stark reality of the 1800s Victoria?

Colours of Gold by Aussie author Kaye Dobbie is told in two timelines – Annie’s story in the current day, and The Girl’s story set in the mid-late 1800s. Fascinating and compelling, the mystery of the plot, the importance of the painting and the involvement of Annie in bringing Alice and Rosey to life – all make for a wonderful, thought-provoking novel which I highly recommend. I love the significance of the cover pic too - the canvas is easy to see. Fabulous! ...more

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May 08, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-are, provided-by-publisher, aussie-author

Colours of Gold by Kaye Dobbie, also known as Sara Bennett and Lilly Sommers, is a captivating tale combining mystery, romance, history and a touch of 'other'.

With the narrative alternating between the past and the present, Colours of Gold tells the story of a small girl found near death in a sealed barrel in the Murray River in 1867 and her connection to a present day art restorer's discovery of a Trompe L'oeil in an old Melbourne hotel scheduled for demolition.

From the opening chapters of the
Colours of Gold by Kaye Dobbie, also known as Sara Bennett and Lilly Sommers, is a captivating tale combining mystery, romance, history and a touch of 'other'.

With the narrative alternating between the past and the present, Colours of Gold tells the story of a small girl found near death in a sealed barrel in the Murray River in 1867 and her connection to a present day art restorer's discovery of a Trompe L'oeil in an old Melbourne hotel scheduled for demolition.

From the opening chapters of the historical timeline I was intrigued by the mysteries introduced by the author, namely the identity of the young girl rescued from the river, her extraordinary ability to see colours (aura) that warn her of a persons mood, misfortune or illness, and her fear of a tall man in a long dark coat that haunts her, day and night. Moving from the banks of the Murray, through the dusty streets of gold rush towns and finally to Melbourne, Dobbie deftly evokes the character and landscape of the historical period as Alice, and friend Rosey, struggle to escape their dark pasts, in hopes of creating a brighter future.

In the contemporary timeline, Annie Reuben is excited by the challenge presented by the conservation of the Trompe L'oeil found in the basement of the old Goldminer Hotel and intrigued by the people and the scenes it depicts, especially the figures of two young girls in the foreground. Despite the threat of interference by History Victoria, and a looming financial crisis, Annie is determined to solve the mystery of the painting, and find out what the sudden appearance of a man in a long dark coat means for her, and her daughter.

Well written, I thought the alternating chapters were particularly well structured, each advancing the story and merging neatly at the conclusion. Suspense is built carefully during the course of the novel, with the pace quickening as Alice and Annie get closer to solving the mysteries that concern them.

An entertaining and interesting novel, with appealing characters, I was surprised at how quickly I became invested in the story of Colours of Gold and how reluctant I was to put it down. This was a great read for me. ...more

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Apr 06, 2014 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, australian, historical-fiction, contemporary, aww2014

Annie Reuben is an art restorer, working in a business with her father that is well known and respected for restoring historic items and architecture to its former glory. Her latest project is a painting found in the basement of a hotel – a Trompe L’oeil depicting the life of a young girl. Annie becomes intrigued by the painting and the people in it and she wants to find out more about them. All she has to go on are a couple of names and where the painting was found but she decides to start digg Annie Reuben is an art restorer, working in a business with her father that is well known and respected for restoring historic items and architecture to its former glory. Her latest project is a painting found in the basement of a hotel – a Trompe L’oeil depicting the life of a young girl. Annie becomes intrigued by the painting and the people in it and she wants to find out more about them. All she has to go on are a couple of names and where the painting was found but she decides to start digging, starting with the paddleboat that appears in a portion of the painting.

In 1867, a young girl is found in a barrel on the Murray River. Rescued by the captain of a paddleboat, he takes the young girl home to his wife, knowing that his wife will take care of her. About eight or so, the young girl has no idea what her name is and so she is named Alice. What most people don’t know is that Alice has a gift – she can see colours around people and in some cases, the colours tell her something, like impending doom. Sometimes she finds it hard to keep quiet about her gift which leads to people becoming wary and suspicious of her, believing that she brings bad luck. After it happens yet again and she loses someone very dear to her, Alice runs away with a friend named Rosey to try their luck on the goldfields. They don’t end up panning for gold but they do join a troupe of entertainers, setting in motion the course of events that will lead to the painting being completed as Alice attempts to find her history…and escape the man in the black coat who has always pursued her.

As Annie becomes more and more involved in the painting, she finds herself seeing the same man in the black coat. Who is he and what does he want? If she discovers his connection then maybe she can give him some peace and satisfy her curiosity about the girls in the painting and her connection to it.

I love a good history/contemporary dual narrative which was why I requested this book even though I was a bit dubious about Alice’s ‘gift’. I’m pretty skeptical about a lot of things like that and so when it began unfolding into the story, I was hoping that I would find it easy to believe and accept it and I’m pleased to say that I did. Although it’s a very strong part of the story, it doesn’t totally dominate. Both the contemporary and the historical parts of this book are well constructed and written and I was able to switch back and forth between them easily without being overly concerned about getting back to one part of the story or the other. That balance can be hard to achieve, to run two stories side by side giving equal attention to both and not having one of them be far too dominant for the reader’s attention.

In the present day, Annie is a single mother working in her father’s restoration business. They apply many crafts in order to maintain or restore historical artifacts and architecture but Annie’s current work is a painting, a Trompe L’oeil, which is a kind of painting that creates an optical illusion and looks three dimensional. It has fallen into a state of extreme disrepair from being shut up in a basement of a condemned building for many, many years and Annie has to examine it and decide what she will do to repair it. She becomes so fascinated with the characters in the painting and the story that she believes it’s trying to tell her that she immediately sets out to find more about them. This is how Annie and her father work – they take on expensive projects and put all their focus and energy into them because it’s their passion. They could make more money taking on more jobs that are less interesting and don’t require so much work but that simply isn’t the way Annie is wired. She throws herself into things, whole heartedly and perhaps even obsessively and although it’s admirable, it means that their business is not exactly thriving any longer and this stress is placing a strain on her father’s health. Annie knows that he wants her to take over soon but she’s not exactly sure she’s ready for that – she likes being able to lose herself in projects that interest her. However she also has her young daughter to think of as well – her responsibilities mean she might have to choose between a well paying job far away and the chance of future personal happiness locally.

In the historical setting, Alice is a foundling that possesses a sort of Sight and also a variation of synesthesia where she sees colours swirling around people. Different colours mean different things and when Alice sometimes tries to warn people they end up regarding her with fear and suspicion. She spends a large part of her young life on the run with her friend Rosey, who has her own past that she’s running from too. Both of them kind of lurch from one disaster to the next as they attempt to outrun a figure that terrifies Alice, a man in a black coat that she believes is hunting her down. Finally for some peace, Alice realises that she needs to find out about her past before she was discovered and try and discover who the man in the black coat really is and why he causes such conflicted feelings inside of her.

I really enjoyed this book – towards the end I found myself frantically turning pages, racing through the story to find out more about Alice’s past and exactly what the story was with the man in the black coat and his motivations and wondering why Annie had seen him as well in the present day. The more I got into the story, the more invested I was, in both the historical and the contemporary parts. ...more

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