A Thousand Painted Hours: A Novel

by Barbara O'Neal

An epic, emotionally charged novel about love, art, and survival spanning 1900s colonial India to Blitz-era London by the USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids.

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.

The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie crosses cultural divides to forge an unlikely bond with Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes, dreams, and far-reaching ideas. What begins as shared sketchbooks and stargazing becomes first love and a secret correspondence. When Elsie’s father is summoned to England, Elsie is severed from the world she knows—and is determined to preserve it through both her art and a connection with Tanveer that endures through the most tumultuous years of their lives.

Across four decades and two continents, Elsie navigates a journey from lush colonial India to war-torn London, amid landscapes of beauty, protest, and peril. As past and present collide, the most impossible choices and sacrifices are yet to be made in the name of love, war, and survival.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, India, Historical, British Literature, Audiobook

480 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2026

About the author

Barbara O'Neal is the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling writer of women's fiction. She lives in Colorado with her partner, a British endurance athlete.

Reviews

[Laura]

Wow, this one definitely pulls at the heartstrings. A heartbreaking story about true love and the forces that keep two people apart, this novel spans both World War I and World War II, moving between India and England.

Barbara O’Neal creates a sweeping love story that draws you in, makes you sigh, and ultimately breaks your heart. She does a wonderful job bringing the setting and characters to life, and the characters themselves are rich, complex, and full of personality.

My only complaint is that the book felt a little too long, and the story moved quite slowly at times. Even so, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to fans of historical romance. A beautiful, emotional story of love, loss, and the forces of history that can keep two people apart.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Wendy]

Best-selling author Barbara O'Neal gives us an emotionally charged novel about love, art and survival covering 1900's colonial India to Blitz-era London.
Through the eyes of Elsie, a British artist born in India who longs, during the Blitz in London, to return to the town that holds her heart and the love of her life in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Barbara O'Neal is an incredibly gifted writer and she gives us a historical love story that is beautifully written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Amber (amberreadsitall)]

A Thousand Painted Hours is a historical fiction novel that spans four decades and two continents.

Elsie grows up as a civil servant's daughter in Nainital, India, where she meets and falls in love with a Sikh prince named Tanveer Singh. They communicate through shared sketchbooks and secret correspondence.

Elsie’s father is called back to England separating Elsie and Tanveer. Years later, Elsie paints through the terror of bombing raids in World War II London, while carrying the enduring memory of her first love.

This story includes themes survival, enduring love, creative passion, and the sacrifices made during war.

This is a slow burn, character driven novel. It is told in dual timelines set in pre WWI India and WWII England.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of this novel. I really enjoyed learning some things about India and its move for independence. There is a lot happening in this story and several timeline shifts. It was sometimes difficult to keep the storylines straight, since I listened to this one on audio. There was also an infidelity storyline that I did not enjoy.

If you enjoy slow burn, star-crossed lovers, war time stories, this book might be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

[Dive Into A Good Book]

I hope I can do this book justice. The details and descriptions felt like Barbara O'Neal had taken a movie of all one thousand painted hours and described them in her book. Bringing to life the riot of colors that make India. The horror and drabness during the London Blitz. The sand in every crevice in Egypt and the list goes on. I was able to learn more about each character as timelines were crossed. Three children were brought together to be fast friends. Their friendship growing into so much more. To the day Tanveer started boarding school. The year Elise and her family were summoned back to England. There are letters that flew between the continents, bringing the story to life. The most important thread throughout the entire book is the love that blossoms from an extraordinarily young age and continued to flourish as the years march on.

Elise Turner was born in India. It is her favorite place in the entire world. The blaze of colors, the intense heat, the lashing rains, the man-eating tigers, the seasoning on the food tingling her nose. All of this brings Elise immense joy and makes her want to bring paint to paper to bring it to life. Elise's mother was extremely close with the maharani. Which meant her two younger children, Tanveer and Gurdaya were her best friends. They did everything together. As time passed there was a spark, that turned into an ember, that turned into a flame between Elise and Tanveer. When Elise and her parents had to move back to England. The flame never went out. It continued to burn as their friendship grew. Many trials and tribulations passed through their lives, and yet they still wrote letters to one another. Needing to know the other was striving through life as they imagined one another.

This is a love story that snaked through the decades. The ending was shocking and yet not at the same time. Tears glittered my face as I lowered the book. This is one you need to sink into. Thank you to Barbara O'Neal, TLC Book Tours, and Amazon Publishing for my gifted copy.

[Ann]

This was a slow book—I sorta felt like I spent 1000 hours reading it. In spite of that, I’m giving it a high rating because I enjoyed the settings and time frames in the dual storyline and I wanted to see what happened next to the star crossed lovers.
Thank you to Goodreads giveaways for the Kindle edition.

[Virginia]

I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but oh my gosh, you guys, A Thousand Painted Hours is lovely—rich, complex, and a swooningly romantic story that moves between colonial India and London during the Blitz. Pick it up for for the star-crossed lovers and stay for the stunning descriptions and the thoughtful exploration of love, art, and purpose.

[Kelly Veit]

This story was a miss for me. O’Neal’s When We Believed in Mermaids was a five star read for me, so when I saw this one on NetGalley, I grabbed it. Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy this one nearly as much. I feel that it could’ve been edited down quite a bit. The pacing felt off and it dragged in the middle. The story is very heavy and filled with sorrow. I really wanted to love this one, but I just didn’t.

✨Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Sharon]

Thank you to Barbara O’Neal and TLC for providing me with an Advanced Reader’s Copy of the book to read.

Elsie Turner is growing up in Nainital with her parents when her family is forced to return to England, leaving behind the only life she has ever known for a country that is part of her heritage but feels unfamiliar to her. Elsie finds herself caught between two worlds: her childhood in India, where she met her first love, Tanveer, and her British heritage. After her father’s brother dies in a hunting accident, the family must return to England, where her father becomes the Earl of Herewich, a title that comes with a home, expectations, and responsibilities.

The story covers two timelines. The first follows Elsie’s departure from India, then a British colony, and her move to England, where she is expected to forge a more conventional British life, marry into an affluent family, and leave much of her former freedom behind. The second timeline takes place during the 1940s, when Elsie is caring for her ailing mother and living with her husband, Peter, during the bombing of London by the Nazis in WWII. A significant part of the story unfolds through the letters Elsie sends and receives.

I always enjoy reading historical fiction and learning about different periods in history. The book gives the reader a sense of the adjustment experienced by families who had lived in British colonies during a time when the world around them was beginning to change and movements for independence were growing. Elsie is very much living in a place of limbo and struggles to find where she truly belongs. The place where she grew up no longer exists in quite the way she remembers it, yet England never completely feels like home either.

The friendship and connection between Elsie and Tanveer are sustained for many years through correspondence and the occasional opportunities they have to spend time together. Their relationship was one of the aspects of the story that kept me interested in seeing where their lives would take them.

At over 500 pages, this book took me a little while to get through, but the story had a lot of depth and felt well researched. I especially enjoyed reading about India during this period of change and came away inspired to read more books about this time in history.

There was something about this book that reminded me of the sweeping historical novels I enjoyed reading when I was younger. If you enjoy historical fiction that combines personal relationships, family expectations, and significant moments in history, I think you would enjoy this one.

This was my first book by Barbara O’Neal, and I would gladly read more of her work in the future.


Read if you like:
Dual Timelines
Colonial India
WWII
First Love
Historical Fiction

[tals]

first off this book is beautifully written. it’s full of emotion, hope & resilience & I really enjoyed the historical side of the story.
for me though, it was quite a slow burn & there was A LOT going on & at times i found it hard to keep track of everything which made it a little difficult to fully get into the story.
that being said i did really enjoy the historical elements & there were so many emotional moments throughout. it’s a beautifully written story it just wasn’t quite the book for me.

✨ 2.5 stars rounded up.

thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Carla]

Elsie is an artist who loves her independence. As the bombs continue to fall, she holds onto hope for a safer future and the memories of a boy she fell in love with when they were just kids. I love how this spans over 40 years as Elsie finds herself torn between her love of painting, an abusive marriage to someone she once trusted, and back to the boy lost to time. I first got introduced to Barbara O'Neal when I read When We Believed in Mermaids and fell in love with how she writes an emotionally charged historical fiction while writing characters that are relatable and easy to fall in love with.

[Kim Campbell]

Wow, what a long novel. It was a good story and I love a dual timeline but what a slow burn. I almost stopped reading a couple of times.

[Pamela Smith]

A beautifully written story and liked the timeline going back & forth between the early 1900’s India and the story’s current 1940 London. A love story, art and historical fiction of both wars. Loved it.

[Marlene]

It starts with a cyanide capsule. Which is a surprising place for a story to start because it has so much potential to be the end. And very nearly is. That opening scene grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t let go until the end of this utterly absorbing historical romance.

It’s the story in between that captivates. Not just what happens AFTER Elsie Turner is given that capsule, but all the years and events and miles that led up to it – and to the terrible events that nearly bring her story to a premature end.

In the beginning, Elsie, her estranged husband and her beloved mother are caught in the midst of the Blitz. They’re living in London as Neville Chamberlain’s infamous “peace in our time” dies in a hail of bombs. Night after night after night. As the losses and the destruction pile up all around her, renowned artist Elsie Turner is forced to send her most important, and most potentially lucrative post-war, canvases out of London for safekeeping.

Making the decisions about which to secrete away and which to keep with her is just part of Elsie’s trip down memory lane, a trip that has miles to walk before its end. Her paintings, and her memories, take her back in time to her childhood in India, to her first summer with Tanveer Singh and his sister Gurdaya, when Tanveer and Elsie were both eleven, and their lifelong relationship began.

Elsie and Tanveer were each other’s person from the minute they met, and remained so no matter what life and their parents threw at them and pulled them apart. Equal in mind and heart, the world they grew up in seemed determined to keep them separated – and dragged them away from each other, over and over.

Tanveer was the second son of the local maharaja in Nainital. Elsie was the daughter of an English bureaucrat, but her father was the second son of an Earl. Neither Tanveer nor her father expected to inherit their titles, so in childhood Tanveer and Elsie were relatively equal in rank, if not in the eyes of the British Raj. Their mothers were the best of friends, and they were often thrown together and glad of it.

But they belonged together, and they both knew it – even if they also recognized that the world they lived in would not have it. It didn’t stop them from falling in love. It only stopped them from making a life together.

And yet they were never apart, not even when continents separated them. Because they began as true friends, and were intellectual equals, they maintained their friendship with long letters and intellectual discussions. But they never lost their hold on each other, no matter how far apart they might be.

Which was both the tragedy of their lives and the saving of them, sometimes seemingly both at the same time. Until they finally reached a point in their lives when they could tackle the forces against them, together at last.

Escape Rating A+: This was, in a word, “WOW!” I had forgotten just how much I loved epic historical romance – or historical epic romance – and A Thousand Painted Hours is definitely both. And a marvelously compelling example of both as well.

Then I thought about it for a while and realized that it was because such books stopped existing, and I think I know why. Back in the day, when there were a LOT of such books – but they were often stories where the female main character was repeatedly victimized, generally had little agency, and spent a great deal of the book waiting for rescue by the male main character, who may have been one of the people who victimized her early on. (I’m thinking of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ books in particular, but this was definitely the trend.)

Tastes changed, and the good parts got thrown out with the bad. The female main character with little to no agency waiting for rescue – the Cinderella trope – became less popular because women’s opportunities changed in the 1970s, and for the better. But we lost the big historical scope of the story along with the passive female main character.

Except for Outlander, of course. Like Claire Randall in Outlander, Elsie Turner may have to deal with the restrictions of her time on the lives of women, but she takes as much control of her life as she can, rails at the unfairness that she can’t control ALL of her circumstances, and then reaches out and takes every scrap of control that she can manage. She becomes an artist against her parents and her eventual husband’s wishes, builds a career and a name for herself, and continues her relationship with Tanveer against not just the odds but in the face of many who are certain he will be her ruin. Or that she will be his.

A Thousand Painted Hours was so marvelous because it combined that huge sweep of history, in this case from the pre-World War I era to the early months of World War II, alongside the falling of the British Raj and the independence movement in India, with a compelling, absorbing romance that is fully engaged with the times in which it is set – because its characters very much are – and we see this tumultuous time through their eyes and experience it through their hearts.

I’m waxing a bit lyrical in this review, but that’s because this story just captivated me so much. I started out listening to it, and the narration by Sneha Mathan was simply lovely. She gave a marvelous performance, absolutely embodied Elsie, but did an excellent job voicing Tanveer as well. I wish I could have listened to the story all the way through, but I was gasping to see if the story could eke out a happy ending. I certainly didn’t expect one. Because I read a LOT faster than an audiobook plays, I switched to text. But it is absolutely worth the time to listen to the whole thing if you have the time and can keep yourself from thumbing ahead. I couldn’t.

While the romance is what holds the story together, what made it work was the way that their relationship is intertwined with so much roiling history. Because tumultuous times, and people’s reactions to them and compromises with them, make the BEST stories, and A Thousand Painted Hours is no exception.

I fell in love with Tanveer and Elsie every bit as much as they fell in love with each other. Their story was beautiful, captivating and perfectly steeped in the trials and tribulations of a turbulent era. If you remember those big, sweeping historical sagas as fondly as I do, you’re absolutely going to fall in love with this book. I certainly did.

Originally published at Reading Reality

[Melissa]

# *A Thousand Painted Hours* by Barbara O’Neal

*A Thousand Painted Hours* entered my life during a summer when I was already doing a lot of reading about both British colonial India and World War II, so I felt as though the literary gods were smiling upon me.

Then I loved the print version so much that I bought the audiobook simply because I wanted to hear Barbara O’Neal’s language read aloud.

This isn’t a review of the audio edition, but that seems worth mentioning because it says something about the prose itself. O’Neal writes with a richness that never becomes cumbersome. Her descriptions are lush and evocative without slowing the story, and there is a musicality to the language that made me curious about how it would sound rather than simply how it looked on the page. For the record, the narration is spot-on, and the story flows just as beautifully when heard as it does when read.

The print edition, though, is gorgeous.

Different languages weave through the text. Letters pass back and forth, sometimes accompanied by pressed flowers or small pieces of art. These elements aren't decorative flourishes pasted onto the story; they're part of the way O’Neal builds intimacy between her characters and gives physical presence to relationships stretched across enormous distances and spans of time.

They also contribute to one of the novel's greatest strengths: its sense of texture. This is a book that feels tactile. Paper, paint, flowers, landscapes, food, weather, clothing, and color all contribute to the world of the novel without overwhelming it.

At 543 pages, *A Thousand Painted Hours* is wonderfully meaty—and somehow still not enough.

That is partly because O’Neal handles the pacing of a long, dual-timeline novel remarkably well. The movement between periods creates momentum rather than interrupting it, and the letters provide yet another rhythm within the larger structure. Instead of feeling as though I were being pulled away from one story just as it became interesting, I found that each shift added another layer to what I already knew.

O’Neal is equally good at allowing relationships to develop over time. Connections between characters are not treated as static things established in one scene and carried unchanged through the rest of the book. Affection, resentment, obligation, desire, friendship, and loyalty evolve as the characters themselves do. Four decades is a tremendous amount of emotional territory for a novel to cover, and the relationships feel lived in rather than merely plotted.

There is also considerable care in the novel's treatment of culture and belonging. O’Neal doesn't use India simply as an exotic backdrop for a British woman's story. Questions of colonialism, privilege, cultural identity, and independence are woven through the characters' lives, while the multilingual elements of the novel allow people to inhabit their own languages rather than having every interaction flattened into English.

Perhaps most impressive is the balance of all these elements. This is historical fiction, romance, family drama, and a novel about art, memory, culture, and identity, but none of those pieces feels as though it has wandered in from a different book.

And despite those 543 pages, I reached the end wishing there were just a few more painted hours left.

**Goes well with:** Gulab jamun and a steaming cup of cardamom tea.

[Bookfan36]

What It’s About

The novel follows Elsie Turner, an artist whose life moves between colonial India and wartime London. Through letters, memories, and quiet reflections, we see her childhood bond with Tanveer Singh, the separation that shapes her adulthood, and the way art becomes both her anchor and her language for grief. The story unfolds slowly, revealing how love, war, and time leave their marks on a life.

Review

I was drawn to the premise immediately: an epistolary, historical novel spanning continents and decades, with art, memory, and war woven through its pages. It promised atmosphere, depth, and emotional weight — exactly the kind of reflective story I often enjoy.

This is a slow, atmospheric, and deeply reflective novel. It’s beautifully written, but intentionally quiet — the kind of book that takes its time and asks you to settle into its rhythm.

The epistolary style shapes the entire experience. Much of the story is told through letters, memories, and inner thoughts rather than fast‑moving plot. This gives the book a gentle, contemplative tone, but it also means the early chapters feel slow, especially if you’re reading outdoors or in a relaxed summer mood.

The settings are vivid:

India feels lush, colourful, and emotionally charged.
London during the Blitz is heavy, grey, and full of longing.
The contrast between the two places mirrors Elsie’s emotional journey.

The characters are quietly complex, especially Elsie. Her relationship with Tanveer is tender and beautifully drawn, but also filled with sadness and distance. The emotional weight of the story builds gradually, and the themes — memory, loss, art, longing — stay with you long after you finish.

And once you reach the end, everything falls into place. The characters’ motivations, the emotional distance, the structure of the letters — all the pieces fit together. The final chapters give clarity to the slower, more reflective earlier sections, and you come away with a full understanding of the characters and why they made the choices they did. It’s one of those books where the payoff arrives at the end, bringing the whole story into focus.

This is not a fast or plot‑driven book. It’s slow, heavy, and introspective, with long stretches of reflection rather than action. But if you appreciate atmospheric historical fiction, it’s rewarding in its own way.

My Rating

Plot – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Slow and reflective, with emotional rather than dramatic tension.

Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
Quietly layered, believable, and emotionally resonant.

Writing – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, lyrical, and atmospheric.

Pacing – 3 out of 5 stars
Very slow in places; requires patience.

Enjoyment – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Heavy but meaningful; best read when you’re in the right mood.

Overall – 3.5 to 4 stars
A beautifully written, emotionally rich novel that unfolds slowly and lingers long after the final page.

Recommended For

Readers who enjoy slow, atmospheric historical fiction
Fans of epistolary novels
Anyone who appreciates art‑themed stories
Readers who like emotionally heavy, reflective narratives
Those who enjoy books set across India and wartime London

[Grady]

A panorama of Love

Gifted Oregon author Barbara O’Neal crowns her collection of forty best-selling novels with this new multicultural and interracial romance and historical fiction story – A THOUSAND PAINTED HOURS, once again establishing her prominence as one of today’s major artists of the quill! In addition, she has penned novels under the nom de plumes Barbara Samuel, Ruth Wind, and Lark O’Neal. Barbara is a passionate traveler, exploring the cultures (and culinary arts!) of Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and India, as well as committing to long-distance hiking to such challenges as the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Pike’s Peak in her hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

As she has stated, ‘I write novels about women’s lives, about reinvention, friendship, love, and the courage to begin again,’ and this new novel follows each of those themes. The spectrum of this tender story is about love, art, and survival spanning 1900s colonial India to Blitz-era London. Offered in a mesmerizing style of alternating timeframes of the early 1900s, this immersive novel opens in 1940 as Elsie attends a ‘dinner party with cyanide,’ and the opening lines explain: ‘The night before the bombs stated falling was hot in London. Blackout curtains forced us to keep the French doors closed, though some of us went out to breathe between courses, shaking our clothing away from our skin. Pale roses climbed the wall, perfuming the air with unseemly innocence. After a dessert of rosewater sponge, Jonathan, a man with the slim hands of a pianist, held up a tiny glass bottle. “These are cyanide tablets,” he said. “I have one for each of us.” With that ominous overture this profoundly moving visit to the past begins

Few authors have been able to capture the tenor of the times in WW II England and the concurrent essence of Indian culture with the skill that this author achieves, condensed as follows: ‘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. The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie crosses cultural divides to forge an unlikely bond with Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes, dreams, and far-reaching ideas. What begins as shared sketchbooks and stargazing becomes first love and a secret correspondence. When Elsie’s father is summoned to England, Elsie is severed from the world she knows—and is determined to preserve it through both her art and a connection with Tanveer that endures through the most tumultuous years of their lives. Across four decades and two continents, Elsie navigates a journey from lush colonial India to war-torn London, amid landscapes of beauty, protest, and peril. As past and present collide, the most impossible choices and sacrifices are yet to be made in the name of love, war, and survival.’ This novel becomes a must read for us all. Brilliant!
.

[Sue]

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 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, dreams of what he could do for the future of his people in India. Elsie always had a sketch book 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 is 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 every 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

[Laura]

Title: A Thousand Painted Hours
Author: Barbara O’Neal
Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Length: Approximately 15 hour and 22 minutes
Source: Thank-you to @barbaraonealauthor @amazonpublishing @tlcbooktours for both the audiobook and physical review copies.
Do you have a favorite artist? I enjoy art, and Monet’s paintings have always been “happy place” art that lifts my spirits.

Elsie Turner grew up in India in the early 1900s and was separated from her great love Tanveer, when her parents moved back to England during her teenage years. The one bright spot was that she was able to go to art school and make new friends.

In a second timeline in 1940, the London Blitz is ongoing and Elsie remembers the past and what has led her up to that moment in time. Will Elsie survive? And can she thrive and have the future she longs for?

My thoughts on this novel:
• The novel was written in short chapters which I found easy to read. Many of the chapters were letters written primarily between Tanveer and Elsie.
• Tanveer and Elsie had an epic love story that stretched through time, distance, and marriage to other people. They respected each other’s minds, while also being wildly attracted to one another.
• I loved the descriptions of India, especially the tigers. It was a great setting.
• The Blitz was horrifying and seemed to parallel Elsie’s careful life imploding with her precarious relationship with her husband and mother.
• It was an interesting look into the prejudice at the time that would not allow a relationship between an Indian man and an English woman.
• I loved how all the pieces of the puzzle of Elsie’s life came together perfectly at the end.
• I listened to about half the book on audio and read half of the book in the physical copy. Both were enjoyable and I liked the audiobook narrator.
• The book included discussion of the Indian independence movement which I enjoyed.
• I would classify this book as slow burn, character driven, first love, historical fiction, and historical romance.

Overall, A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O’Neal was a beautifully written novel set in India and London during the first half of the 20th century that told the story of an enduring forbidden love.

This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2026...

[Christopher Tizzard]

A Thousand Painted Hours was a marvellous book and one that completely transported me to India at the turn of the twentieth century. I loved the scale of the story and the way it follows its characters across decades, through a period when India itself was undergoing enormous change.

The setting was probably my favourite part of the book. We begin in an India still firmly under British rule, with the divisions of class, race and empire shaping everyday life, and then watch that world gradually change as the twentieth century unfolds. Against that backdrop come two World Wars, the growing movement for Indian independence and the slow breaking down of a way of life that, at the beginning of the novel, seems almost permanent.

I particularly enjoyed how the book doesn't simply jump from one major historical event to another. It is the years in between that make it work so well. You see how attitudes change, how families and relationships evolve, and how events happening thousands of miles away can suddenly have very real consequences for people living in India. By covering such a long period, there is a wonderful sense of time passing and one generation giving way to another.

At the centre of everything is a fantastic FMC. I absolutely loved following her through this changing world. She feels like a proper character rather than simply someone being used to guide us through historical events, and watching her life develop alongside the enormous changes taking place around her was what kept me so invested.

There is also something fascinating about seeing India during this particular period — the contrast between British colonial society and Indian culture, the expectations placed upon people depending on their background and position, and the growing feeling that the established order cannot continue forever. It gives the novel a much richer backdrop than simply being "a story set during the World Wars."

For me, the decades-spanning structure is what really elevates the book. By the end, it feels as though you've experienced a substantial piece of these characters' lives rather than just one dramatic episode from them.

A great piece of historical fiction, a wonderful setting and a FMC I genuinely loved spending time with. A Thousand Painted Hours takes you through decades of love, upheaval, war and an India undergoing extraordinary change. A thoroughly enjoyable 4-star read

[Heather]

A Thousand Painted Hours tells the story of Elsie, the daughter of a British earl, and Tanveer, the son of a Maharajah, and their lifelong, unbreakable devotion to one another.

Elsie and Tanveer become close friends in childhood and their friendship deepens into love as the years pass and they grow into adulthood, until the day Elsie is forced to leave India.

The novel moves between several timelines and as Elsie matures, so does her artistic talent, and through her painting she comes to understand herself and her own capacity for self-expression.

The novel also wades into deeper socio-political waters — women's equality, India's caste system, and the toll of war. Elsie chafes against the confines placed on women in the early twentieth century, hemmed in by social propriety and family obligation, in an era when male heirs alone carried on the family name and inherited its wealth and title, while daughters were left to arranged marriages and quiet, uneventful lives.

Elsie and Tanveer feel destined for each other and destined to be kept apart in equal measure. Theirs is a love that feels preordained even as the world conspires against it — two World Wars, India's fight for independence from British colonial rule, and the rigid expectations that come with royal titles all stand between them, obstacle after obstacle.

I became a fan of Barbara O'Neal after reading The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth. Her gift for setting — the smells, the sights, the people, the food — always leaves me longing to pack a bag and go exploring. She has a rare eye for the human condition and for the private, interior world each of us carries.

My Final word: A Thousand Painted Hours is a story of longing and tenderness that burns with passion — not only of the body, but of the mind and soul. The connection between Elsie and Tanveer is the deepest kind: pure, selfless, and unyielding against the test of time. Barbara O'Neal has a way of touching something in me that few authors can, and I can't wait to read more of her work. 4.5 stars

This review was originally posted on my blog Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and the publisher and author for the free review copy.

[Teresa Brock]

A Thousand Painted Hours
Barbara O'Neal
08/11/2026
Brilliance Publishing|Brilliance Audio

This is so far outside my normal genre of reading, and my first Barbara O’Neal book, that I can honestly say I am incredibly thankful I was given the opportunity to experience A Thousand Painted Hours. Sometimes a book finds you at exactly the right moment, and this was one of those rare stories that completely surprised me. Before diving in, it is important to understand the heart of this beautifully layered novel. At its center are Elsie Turner, an artist growing up in colonial India, and Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince who becomes her closest friend, confidant, and eventually the great love of her life. Their bond begins in childhood, but life, expectations, social class, politics, war, and distance repeatedly test the connection they share. Moving between India and war torn London, this is a sweeping historical love story about art, identity, sacrifice, and a love that refuses to disappear even when the world tries to pull two people apart.

What surprised me most was how deeply I connected with the way Elsie and Tanveer communicate through their art and their letters. Those moments felt incredibly intimate, as if we were being trusted with something private and precious. Their drawings, their words, and the things they leave unsaid become a language all their own. Listening to this story while also reading it added another emotional layer because the narration captured the longing, grief, and beauty woven through every page. This book felt less like someone telling me a story and more like being handed a decades long family secret and being invited to hold it carefully.

A Thousand Painted Hours is immersive, emotional, and beautifully written. It is a story about the pieces of ourselves we leave behind, the people who shape us forever, and the kind of love that can exist even when life refuses to make things easy. This was a journey I never expected to take, but I am so grateful I did. Beautifully broken is the only way I can describe it.

[Laura Hill]

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 11th, 2026.

Excellent historical fiction alternating between London in late 1940, during the Blitz, and the early 1900s in India and England. Elsie has been raised in India, her father in the British civil service. While there she forms a deep friendship with a Sikh prince with strong tendencies towards independence. When her father is called back to England, Elsie is reluctantly sent back as well.

This is a love story that stretches across time, space, class, and political trends, including the recognition of the treatment and consideration of women. It’s quite emotional and there are plenty of scenes I can only describe as “torrid” which is usually not my thing, but the writing was excellent, the situations were quite believable, and I never felt emotionally manipulated. Additionally, the various characters and depiction of life in those times and places were really good — colonial India, war torn England, Cairo after WWI, etc.) . Elsie is an artist struggling to make her way in a world where her responsibilities and the expectations of others don’t always allow her much autonomy. The descriptions of her artistic efforts were very engaging (that’s two books in a row about artistic types that have appealed to me, the unartistic type) and the detailed descriptions of the (completely appropriate to the ages) discussions and interests of the various characters (her Prince, his sister, her own mother, a Bohemian group she connects with, etc) is a marvel. I love the way that the letter exchanges between her and her Sikh Prince always contained “one small beauty” regardless of the deeply disturbing events they were going through.

It was a quick read — a little repetitive (for me) on the love story, but fully compelling from start to finish.

[Janine]

An epic love story spanning from 1900s colonial India to Blitz-era London based on the life of fictional artist, Elsie Turner, focusing on her love for a Sikh Prince.

Elise Turner is determined to keep to her art and preserve her canvases in spite of Hitler’s bombs. Amid the chaos, memories of her days in India and her long lost love slowly emerge. The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie meets Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince, who fills her mind with “hope, dreams and far-reaching ideas.” What started as “shared sketchbooks and stargazing” becomes a secret correspondence when her father is called back to England. Elsie is determined to keep her connection to Tanveer alive through her art and her letters and all those secret times they met. Can they really find themselves in this time of war?

Told in alternating time periods - pre 1940 and 1940 - settings of London, Cairo, Bombay, Talwarpur, Taos, New Mexico - as well as through correspondence we experience Elsie’s and Tanveer’s deep connection and love. It’s a very emotional roller coaster of a ride too. At one point nearer the end, Tanveer remarks that the two of them had been given a deep enduring love only to be separated over and over.

This is more a plot- driven novel I think so while a lot time and distances occur, the story is always about the love - and some cases the love triangle. One reviewer I came across felt there were some “torrid” scenes but I didn’t find much “steam” so much as an emotional sense of desire. But these two lovers were lovers. The depiction of life pre-WWI through 1940 was interesting. I thought Elsie and Tanveer were well drawn though.

This is a book for readers who enjoy emotionally charged historical fiction as well as those who like fiction set in times of great conflict and upheaval.

My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for granting me access to this ARC.

[Tonia]

I received a free copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

This was a lovely story about love, friendship, duty, and the heartbreak of betrayal. The way the author told the story in pieces across different time periods kept me wondering what the full story of Elsie and Tanveer was. As the pieces unfolded, I found myself becoming more and more drawn into their story.

One of the things that I particularly liked was the way the book explored the different sides of love. It showed how people can be unselfish and make sacrifices for someone they love, but also how people can be cruel or selfish in the name of love. Without giving too much away, there is a betrayal later in the story that Elsie learns about that I found truly heartbreaking. And yet, even after being hurt, Elsie still tried to understand why this person had done what they did. I found that response very meaningful because it showed that love and understanding can sometimes exist alongside hurt and disappointment.

Another aspect of the story I appreciated was the theme of learning to love yourself and be true to who you are, even when things don’t turn out the way you hoped. I especially saw this through Elsie’s art. Painting had always been important to her, but earlier in her life, her subjects were more about what she saw and remembered, particularly of India through a romanticized perspective. As she found her own voice, her art became more personal and authentic. Her focus increasingly turned to women and their stories, giving a voice and a place in her art to women whose experiences were not often the focus during that time. I liked the way her paintings became a reflection of her own journey toward finding her truth and being able to express it.

Despite the betrayals and heartbreak Elsie experienced, the story also showed the importance of relationships that are strong, supportive, and safe. There were people in her life she could turn to and places where she could simply be herself. I liked that balance. The story recognizes that love can hurt us, but it can also give us friendship, strength, and a safe place to land.

Overall, I found this to be a thoughtful and beautiful story about the many forms love can take, the ways people can hurt and forgive one another, and the importance of finding your own voice and staying true to yourself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction centered on relationships, love and women’s stories.

[Trish]

A Thousand Painted Hours is a historical novel told in two timelines -- early 1900's colonial India and London, 1940 during the Blitz. Elsie Turner lives in India with her parents when she is a young girl. She has a strong connection with a young prince her age, Tanveer Singh. Friendship turns to love, but they are separated when the Turner family moves back to England. They have other relationships but their bond remains strong over the decades ... still longing to be together.

I wanted to read A Thousand Painted Hours because I love historical fiction. I am interested in both early 1900's India and the World War II time period, so this novel was particularly appealing.

Elsie and Tanveer are both compelling characters. The connection between them is so strong and the scenes of them together as adults are electric. They are separated most of their adult life and part of their story is told in letters. This novel is so much about absence and not being with the person you love. Elsie's friend remarks: "Your prince is a fantasy, my dear. It's easy to love someone at a distance" (p. 213). Later when they are briefly reunited, Tanveer tells Elsie, "The world has color again" (p. 244).

This is my first read by Barbara O'Neal and I will certainly look for her other books. The storytelling is beautiful - with both vivid descriptions and well drawn characters.

I love sweeping historical sagas that move through the decades, and enjoyed that aspect of this novel. It is a long book but I found it a fast read.

I recommend A Thousand Painted Hours for fans of historical fiction, and especially anyone interested in India or England in the first half of the 1900's.

[Christina Egan]

🖼️ Book Review 🖼️- A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O’Neal
Thank you to TLC Tours, Barbara O’Neal, and Lake Union Publishing for a gifted copy of this book. This was an epic tale of forbidden secret love between Elsie and her long lost love Tanveer. They met as children in India where Tanveer was the so of a prince and Elsie, the daughter of a British civil servant. Due to the differences in their social status and different cultures, their love could never be solidified through marriage however, they found a way to maintain a connection through letter writing and sporadic visits.
The story started in the 1900’s in colonial India and goes through the 1940’s through two horrific wars while Elsie was in England.
This book is rich in details of their lives and I was immersed in this story. The book goes back in time to when they were both growing up in India and then through the present day with flashbacks throughout the four decades. I really loved this story and the audiobook was fantastic. It is a story that I will remember for a long time. The book is over 500 pages but I loved being able to follow the story of Elsie and Tanveer and their families. The audiobook narration was very well done by Sneha Mathan and for those who love an epic emotional love story, this is the audiobook for you!
This was my first book by this author and I look forward to reading her other novels!

The book also came with a few cute items representing the story: mini set of paints; pen and small note pad. The book was narrated through a number of letters written between Elsie and Tanveer which I really enjoyed- reminiscent of The Correspondent but totally different story! This book was released on August 11, 2026!

[Marja Coons-Torn]

This is a triple timeline novel, but the timelines are 1940 and 1909 or 1915 rather than today and sometime in the past. The settings are wartime London, a small northern India village called Nainital, and an art school/young painter.
Elsie Turner was raised in colonial India where, in the summer, she played in the lakes and woods of northern Indian with the children next door. Only the children next door were the children of a Maharaja. In her teen age years, Else and Tanveer fell in love, a situation impossible to deal with in the midst of Victorian and colonial rules for each. Still, they never lose touch completely, even when they are both married to other people.
The active thread of the novel is told from Elsie’s point of view as she struggles to deal with the Blitz and an aging mother who can no longer get to the air raid shelter. It is a time to remembering and reflecting for Elsie, as she contemplates the uncertainty that she will even survive the falling bombs. She continues to write letters to and receive letters from Tanveer, her Indian prince.
In this novel, you will encounter the horrors that men returning from war experience. You will find the fears of those who are in thr midst of the Blitz in London. But you will also find hope, reflection and wisdom in the midst of the realities of life.
I am happy to recommend this excellent new novel by Barbara O’Neal, a skilled and insightful novelist. A copy was made available to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader 2.0]

A Thousand Painted Hours has two story lines--one, early 20th century India, and the other, London in 1940. Both of these are completely captivating and the book pays off in every possible way.

Elsie Turner was born in India, and along with her mother became close with the local royal family. Elsie becomes close with the Maharajah's children, Tanveer and Gurdaya, and the three share everything, bonding over swimming, animals, and general kid fun. Elsie loves to draw and is determined to study art.Tanveer is a younger son and must earn his own way. Gurdaya must marry someone with money. These are all pretty general demands for children of their class and time, but unexpected is that Elsie and Tanveer will bond so closely, even though they both know they will never be able to marry. Elsie's family is called back to England when her father unexpectedly inherits a an Earldom and now she is expected to give up her dream of art school and marry well, because the stately manse they inherited is a crumbling wreck in need of lots of repairs. Tanveer encourages her from afar. Will they ever see each other again, or will their letters serve?

The description sounds a little romance-y and the story has that element, but its power is in the characterizations and skillful scene-setting.. Barbara O'Neal's depiction of the Blitz is hair-raising. I'd go for a sequel.

4.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley for a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sandy]

Elsie Turner grew up in India, her closest friend was Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince, their friendship grows from childhood friend to soulmate. However, when Elsie's father, is summoned back to England to become an Earl, Elsie and Tanveer are pulled apart. Each struggles with their identity, Elsie becomes Lady Turner, a young woman who must be part of society and Tanveer is royalty who must learn to navigate the local political scene. The letters between them show the longing and love each has for each other. The paintings and sketches Elsie does allow her to produce her dreams and memories. The love flows between them but life keeps them apart, will it always be so?

I've been reading books by this author for many years and typically devour each book, wanting the book never to end. This book was different for me. I'm not sure if it was the almost desperation or longing, or perhaps the frustration of the characters to be unable to be together because of obligation and society. I was torn between frustration and annoyance at the plot. Perhaps it was frustration at the limitation of what society would allow, how in that particular timeframe, both characters were limited in how they lived their life. I will continue to devour this author's books as she is an excellent writer. Thanks to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing.

[Debra]

I did recieve a free preview copy for an honest review. O’Neal’s novels are not only full of food (right up my alley), but she also creates characters that you root for and love. Most of the time the characters are flawed but you still can’t help being in their corner.

I previously reviewed Memories of the Lost, The Lost Girls of Devon, and The Art of Inheriting Secrets. You can read all my TLC reviews of her books here. I guess I’m a fan. (I’ve also read When We Believed in Mermaidsand rated it five stars.) O’Neal always hooks me in quickly and I have been known to stay up all night to finish one of her books.

A Thousand Painted Hours is a huge book, clocking in at 531 pages. I know some readers do not care for the alternating story lines but I thought O’Neal did a great job of switching back and forth between the WWI and the WWII eras to further the plot. The romance between Elsie and Tanveer is bittersweet to say the least and I had no idea if their tale was going to work out for the better or worse. (And, I’m not saying.) O’Neal covers a great deal of territory with a great many characters but I never found the tale rambling. I really liked this one. If you like historical fiction paired with an epic romance, pick up this novel! This is my favorite O’Neal book to date.