A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O’Neal ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

 

In the shadow of the London Blitz, artist Elsie Turner clings fiercely to her canvases, refusing to let war dim the colors that define her. The bombs test her nerve, but the struggle also stirs memories of her golden youth in India and of the long-lost love of her life.

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August 2026; Lake Union Publishing; 978-1662514968
audio, ebook, print (543 pages); historical fiction

This is a beautifully written book that spans the life of artist Elsie Turner from Colonial India to the London Blitz.  The two parts of her life were lived in totally different environments, but no matter what she goes through in London, her mind and heart remain in India with her love of the land and the people – especially her best friend from childhood.

INDIA

Elsie was the daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital.  As the second son in his family, her father had no rights to the family title and home.  Elsie’s mother was a healer and became friends with many of the Indian women.  She let Elsie run free and choose her own friends, so she soon became friends with the children of the local leader.  Her special friend was Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes and dreams of what he could do for the future of his people in India.  Elsie always had a sketchbook in her hands, and her paintings during this time period reflected the beauty of the land and the people of India.  Her friendship with Tanveer became more than just a friendship, but when she was 15, the oldest son in the family died, and her father was summoned to London to take on the family title.  Elsie wanted to stay in India – it was the only life she had ever known, and she loved her freedom, but there was no choice, and soon she was on a ship sailing to her new life and leaving behind the land and the man she loved.

LONDON

Elsie didn’t really fit into the life of a titled young lady in London.  She loved the new clothes that her mother bought her, but she wasn’t really accepted by the other young women who were all interested in finding a husband.  Her family agreed to send her to art school for a year, and she blossomed and made lots of new friends…but she still couldn’t forget her old love.  She made a proper marriage with Peter, an affluent young man who had fought in World War I and still suffered from what we would refer to as PTSD.  Her life in London was really not happy, and she still had fond thoughts of India and her first love.  Despite being married, she and Tanveer continued to correspond with each other over the years, and when she finally gave up on her marriage, she fled to his arms in India.  She returned to London to take care of her mother, and when the Blitz in London started, the family was in grave danger as the bombs dropped.  Would Elsie ever return to India, or would her life in India only exist in her memories?

COMMENTS

This was a long book, and I read it slowly because it was so beautifully written.  I felt like I was in India thanks to the author’s evocative descriptions of the setting, and I was scared for the main characters as the bombs were dropping over London.  The book was well researched, and I learned a lot about India during the time period when they were still under British rule.  This is a beautiful, emotionally filled romance with believable characters and beautiful settings, and I enjoyed every page of it. 

Buy A Thousand Painted Hours at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything, but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

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