This atmospheric painting is actually called 'Twenty Minutes Past Three', by the artist Tom Roberts (1856-1931). Born in England, he lived in Australia for most of his life.
The book, of course, is only a small part of the story of the painting, but it adds something important. The title tells us the time -- it's the middle of the night, or perhaps we should say the small hours of the morning. The lamp is lit, the woman is fully dressed. There's what I take to be a pile of mending or sewing on the table, a discarded book, and a small clock. A blanket is thrown carelessly over the back of the chair, as if she has just stood up. Long hours of waiting, that's what's been going on. Inability to concentrate on anything. And now, I think, she's heard a noise -- the front door, probably, being, no doubt, opened quietly on the assumption that she's fast asleep in bed.
Hands up if you can relate to this! I certainly can. Waiting anxiously for a man, or a teenager, or indeed anyone who should have been home and isn't. An intensely painful experience at the best of times. I may be wrong in imposing a scenario of an unfaithful husband onto this, but it certainly fits the bill.
