Peggy and Molly, daughters of renowned painter, Thomas Gainsborough, must stick together to live up to the illusion their father has created about their family. A twisting tale of love, mental illness, and sisterhood, this historical fiction will take you for an emotional ride.

Told as a historical fiction mystery, the novel explores the meaning of family and devotion on multiple levels. I enjoyed the characters, the attention to the historical setting, and the mystery element. However, the story suffered from some pacing issues and for me, needed some faster pay-off. I can't say if I would have pushed through if this hadn't been an ARC, but ultimately, it was worth it in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

In her captivating novel "The Painter's Daughters," Emily Howes skillfully unveils the immersive narratives surrounding Molly and Peggy, the daughters of 18th-century British master painter Thomas Gainsborough.

Set against the backdrop of 18th-century England, the story unfolds in two parallel narratives, particularly focusing on Molly and Peggy. From their wild upbringing in Suffolk to their exposure to Bath's refined society, Howes intricately portrays their journey amidst societal expectations and familial dynamics. Molly, the eldest daughter, enjoys an unrestrained childhood in Suffolk, despite her mother’s efforts to rein her in. However, troubling signs of odd behavior and confusion persist, worsening after the family relocates to fashionable Bath. Molly's unsettling behavior becomes a central concern for her younger sister Peggy, who fears separation and the societal stigma associated with Molly's condition. She devises coping mechanisms to keep them together, even as Molly’s condition threatens institutionalization.

Alongside this, we follow the intriguing backstory of Meg, a woman with her own tale of love, secrecy, and ambition. An Englishwoman with a history of familial violence and loss, Meg's secret relationship with Frederick of Hanover (then Prince of Wales) leads her to make bold choices to secure their future.

Throughout the book, Howes skillfully explores themes of love, duty, and secrecy, weaving fact and imagination, while navigating themes of love, duty, and resentment, highlighting the intricate balance between genetic predispositions and hidden truths. Her meticulous research, detailed in the author's note, distinguishes fact from imaginative interpretation, providing a rich tapestry of historical context. Overall, "The Painter's Daughters" is a thoughtful view of the real lives behind Gainsborough’s exquisite portraits.

This was very good historical fiction. There were two viewpoints - Peggy, who was the younger of two sisters who were the daughters of the famous painter Thomas Gainsborough; and Meg, a girl working in a village inn. The reader doesn't really know how the two connect until toward the end of the story, but for me it was surprising and powerful once it was revealed.

Much of the story is about Peggy and her sister Molly who suffers from mental illness, and it explored themes of familial responsibility and love - how much of yourself do you sacrifice for those you love? I don't want to summarize the plot, but would say that I enjoyed reading about this family, the choices they made and the repercussions of those choices. As I said before, very good historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This is a historical fiction novel set in the 1700s about the daughters of a famous portrait artist. Peggy and Molly spend their days posing for their dad, as he would paint them. They love and protect each other until a betrayal occurs.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

This story was so beautifully done--a tribute to the art that inspired it. 

A story of two sisters, at its core, The Painter's Daughters is the story of artist Thomas Gainsborough's daughters, Peggy and Molly.

This wasn't always a comfortable read as it's realistic and things weren't always easy for the sisters. But uncomfortable reads can be so rewarding. And this one definitely paid off.

Unfortunately, for me, this didn’t strike a chord, nor did I fall into the world of Gainsborough and his family, especially his daughters. In part, that may have been because the version provided to me had no real spacing which made it arduous to read. Not the author’s fault, of course, and indeed it harms the author for readers to have to wade through pages of unindented and unspaced text, which keeps a reader from losing themselves in the story and the writing, and at this point in our techno times, providing novels in advance form should not be hindered by this. But in addition, I found the writing too flowery, it lacked that verisimilitude that brings historical fiction alive.

The Painters Daughters was based on a real English painter from the 17th century and his wife and daughters. It was very interesting and atmospheric. One of the sisters Peggy longs to be an artist like her father, but also finds herself covering for her sister Molly’s frequent mental lapses. The family moves to Bath and things become easier and harder. I did some googling and learned that many of the characters and events in the story are real but not all the facts are the same. Overall, an interesting read. Thank you to @netgalley for the arc.

This book and I were a bad match.

I didn't connect with the story at all. For me, the writing was overly... flowery? Poetic? Something... It felt forced. The characters weren't developed, and I wasn't connecting with any of it.

DNF

In this historical fiction novel, Emily Howes introduces readers to the Gainsborough daughters Mary and Margaret, daughters of the famous English painter who lived in the eighteenth century. Told from alternating perspectives from an older Margaret and her younger self, readers explore the Gainsborough girls’ childhood from their difficult relationships with their parents to the development of Mary’s illness and Margaret’s attempts at painting to their adulthood and the further deterioration of their relationships with each other and their parents. Ultimately a tragic historical fiction novel, the readers gain some insight into the lives of two girls who lived in the shadow of their father and struggled to handle a world that did not accept their creativity or their illness. Howes brings two complicated characters and their equally complicated relationships to other characters in the novel to life and maintains the realistic complexity in her recreation of these characters’ dynamics. Howes has certainly invoked strong emotions and feelings in her characters, and she has done an incredible job bringing such complex characters like the Gainsborough girls to life in this novel. This is an incredibly emotional novel that brings forgotten women to life through Howes’ powerful language and descriptive prose.

The Painter's Daughters is a work of biographical fiction focusing on Molly and Peggy Gainsborough (yes, daughters of Thomas Gainsborough). As with all biographical fiction, one can't assume that what one is reading is "true," but Emily Howes, the author, does a fair job in the afterword explaining which bits of the story are based on unproven claims and notes the occasional shifts she has made in dates.

The novel follows two story lines that seem disconnected, but that play off against each other well, giving the author multiple ways to explore the exploitation of young women by more powerful men in the 1700s. I read this title in two nights and sincerely enjoyed myself. Molly and Peggy's lives were difficult: Molly had increasing mental health issues as she grew up, and Peggy spent much of her life trying to "protect" Molly by hiding her illness from her family and outsiders. Both women have strengths, despite the difficulties they're wrestling with, and I appreciated Howes' exploration of what their inner lives might have been like.

If you enjoy historical fiction, particularly that set in the 1700s, this is book you should keep an eye out for.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Wonderful historical fiction that centers on the two daughters of the famous artist, Gainsborough. The book is set in England, primarily in Bath. This is a rich and detailed story about the two girls as they grew up, their famous father, and their mother, the artwork, as well as the back story of the ancestry of the mother. This was an excellent read.

This was an interesting book about the famous painter named thomas gingersburg. He had 2 daughters, pegging and Molly.They had a very interesting background as well. The story is very interesting, especially the mother's part of it.Because you find out what really happened to her and how?Nobody really knew what was going on. Molly had a lot of problems in her head. And peggy always was very protective of her. Then grew up in Ipswich.And then the mother decided they were too wild so she moved them to bed B a t h. Things really do not go well there for them so. Your mother tried to introduce them to society.But molly was just not able to handle it. When the father got sick and supposedly died they had. Had a rough time of it. The father also took on a pretty's and he was not very nice to the girls. Things went sideways with him as well.So they were sent away to a school. The mother had a very shady past and was Connect it to Lord. She was Barmaid in H a r o w d. She fell from this man who promised her everything , but then aband commander. She went to London to find him.But things did not turn very well for her there either. She had the baby so she was forced to marry another man. It's man Gave her money to keep her quiet. This album gets revealed at the end of the book and we'll see how it's all tied together. Peggy fell from Manning.John fisher who was Compose music. Molly fell for him too, and they both got married at the time.Peggy was very upset. Molly did not feel very well with this man. Peggy helped out with this as well. Very interesting book you like it.

A story of two daughters of English painter Thomas Gainsborough - Peggy and Molly. In the 1700s, mental illness is looked down upon, and Peggy goes to great lengths to protect Molly's differences. As they age, Peggy falls in love, and lines are blurred as to where her allegiance must lie. A heart wrenching tale of the girls who are best known for their portraits.

This was a fantastic debut novel from Emily Howes. It was absolutely brilliant and beautifully written. Featuring art, mental illness, sibling relationships, and filled with historical details about the 1700s, the Painter's Daughters was simply perfect.

The story begins in Ipswich when Peggy and Molly are very young and follows them as their childhood progresses in Bath. Molly has started to show signs of mental illness and Peggy is trying to keep her well. As they become adults Peggy realizes that she will always have to be with Molly and that her sister will never lead a normal life.

Emily Howes does such an amazing job telling this story about the family of artist Thomas Gainsborough. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC of The Painter’s Daughters, which published February 27th. I grabbed this ARC when it was available as a Read Now on NetGalley months and months ago, thinking surely I would have time to finish it before pub day. You guessed it- I didn’t!

I actually had a difficult time getting into this book and needed the audiobook to help me push through and finish it. I think this is a circumstance where I am the problem, not the book. The writing style was lovely and evoked vivid imagery of what it would be like to experience life through Peggy and Meg’s eyes. In my opinion, the plot felt like it moved on the slower side throughout the book- though this may be because I was not terribly invested in what was happening to the characters. Although the cultural misogyny of the time shows through in the circumstances that Peggy, Molly, and Meg find themselves in, they were big contributors to their own misfortunes. Thinking about the ending of the story makes me wonder what the point of the book really was- that familial love comes with strings attached? That blood is thicker than water and your fate is decided by duty to your family at your own personal detriment? Reviewing the blurb for this book also really gives a lot of the story away, so I would recommend going into it blind.

Again, this might be a story that YOU read and love, and there are many positive reviews for The Painter’s Daughters. I would not discourage anyone from reading it if they are interested; it was just not my cup of tea.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this story. The writing style was not for me. I appreciate the opportunity and apologize for not being able to complete the story. I wish the author the best of luck!

For readers who enjoy novels that fictionalize the world beyond a painting, The Painter's Daughter by Emily Howes, is a good offshoot of that genre. In this case, Howes explores the lives of portrait artist Thomas Gainsborough's two daughters as their family moves from the country to city in the 1700s. The family is always on the precipice of financial ruin, at one time trying to emulate the lifestyles of their well-to-do clients while wholly dependent upon their largess to fund their lives. Peggy and Molly, Gainsborough's two daughters, are complex individuals who also struggle to hide the health of one sister, all while ensuring this is hidden from public view. The Painter's Daughter is a depiction of womanhood in the 1700s, explores the stigma of mental health conditions, and - in a tale for all times - asks how much people can stray beyond society's expectations and still be successful.

The Painters Daughters is a quiet story of two sisters navigating the struggles of girlhood and womanhood with the added complication of mental illness during the 1700s in England.

I love stories about sisters and this is no exception.

The sisters are the daughters of renown English portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough and you can tell the author did her research on the real Gainsboroughs.

The way the story is written feels intentionally stifling and there is an undercurrent of dread that the older sister’s mental illness would be outed or would flare up. I could feel the deep love and fear that were so intwined as to be unrecognizable from each other. Additionally, because this is about “The Painters Daughters” reading this story is a full sensory experience.

There is an alternate timeline/narrative that I didn’t always love because it felt like I was pulled from story that is otherwise so immersive. What I did like about it was we ended somewhere in the middle, which isn’t really an ending, but felt appropriate.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book really had no lasting impact on me. I felt like the writing was pretty good, because I was able to finish the story, but did not feel any connection with the characters. I wish Meg had more of a role in the story because I liked her short chapters better. Overall, there wasn't much romance or development and the book remained pretty sad. I would probably still check out others written by this author, but unfortunately this one was a flop for me.

Slow and fairly dark, the writing in this book wasn't for me. The premise was interesting but the pacing didn't keep me hooked. It was also fairly repetitive and bland. I think some readers will enjoy it based on the time period its set in, but for me it was a miss.

Thank you for the advance copy!