This book about the daughters of painter Thomas Gainsborough was pretty good. I wish the characters had been a little more developed but overall it was a solid piece of historical fiction from an era I don’t usually read about.

Another slow start for me - but man oh man once I was in, I couldn’t put it down. An absolutely fascinating tale of 2 sisters and their love for one another. But laced throughout is mental illness, betrayal and secrets. So well done and beautiful - highly recommended.

The unbreakable bonds of sisterhood is very much the main focus of this novel that tells the story of Thomas Gainsborough, a famous 18th century English painter and his family. The story is told in two timeframes but mostly from the perspective of Peg, Gainsborough’s younger daughter and involves her devotion to her older sister, Molly who suffers from an unknown (for the time) mental illness. Interspersed with Peg’s story, we hear from Meg, who is revealed to be Peg and Molly’s maternal grandmother and explains the attitude of the girls’ mother. Peg is the only person in the family who recognizes Molly’s crippling but sporadic episodes of mental breakdown and she commits all her effort into hiding Molly’s condition from society as well as her parents. As the girls grow up in Bath, their father develops his fame as a painter while their mother seeks a role in high society that she believes to be her birthright. Peg’s devotion to Molly becomes her life’s mission in spite of her own heartache and experiences of betrayal.
This is a very interesting piece of historical fiction that will especially appeal to readers who love art history. I really enjoyed knowing more about Thomas Gainsborough and his rocky rise to fame. But the story being told from Peg’s perspective with the added theme of the bond between sisters made the story so much more interesting and engaging. The author did a great job of portraying all the emotions that Peg’s devotion to Molly caused her to experience and this was by far my favorite part of the book. I would have liked more of Meg’s story, especially in regards to her daughter’s growing up years. There were also some interesting little tidbits of information about what life was like in high society Bath at the time that really added more interest to the story. I found the book to be well written with good character development and would definitely recommend it.

When I started reading The Painter's Daughters, I wasn't familiar with Thomas Gainsborough. After a quick internet search, it turns out I do recognize a few of his paintings after all.
I really enjoyed the dual timeline but I almost wish there were more of Meg's chapters. She was such a strong character! I would have enjoyed more time with her while she was in London.
I ended up getting the audio version to listen to while I read and I highly recommend either version.

I feel like this book has everything. Romance, grief, betrayal, action, and even a little spice, all within a Christian perspective but without being cheesy (and I feel like I'm pretty sensitive to cheese if ya know what I'm sayin'). The storyline is very raw and the characters are very human. Not just some cutesy fairy tale, but people having to work through real-life challenges

The Painter's Daughters follows Molly and Peggy, daughter of renowned painter Thomas Gainsborough. Growing up in rural England, Molly and Peggy run freely in the garden and play with their father in his studio. They are close and Peggy knows from an early age that she must protect her older sister Peggy, who suffers from spells of a sort, often losing track of where she is or when.

When their mother decides enough is enough, that the daughters should be raised as proper ladies, the family moves to Bath, and soon Peggy realizes just how different her sister is and how difficult it will be to keep those differences from society.

Beautifully written, and mysteriously plotted, this is a book that will carry you through with the vaguest hint of a question--Howes leaves so much behind the curtain that I'm not certain I could always articulate what I was wondering about. There's some quiet intrigue. The historical aspect of the story is also well written, the depth of Howes' presentation of the expectations of women of the time shines through. I personally love speculative historical fiction that takes the lives of real people and fleshes them out in a way we could never know their story truly. I think Howes did an excellent job with this.

An excellent read for fans of historical fiction, especially 18th century. There's not a tremendous amount of plot here but what plot there is reads carefully cultivated and the prose itself is gorgeous.

Dive into the heart of 18th-century England with this captivating historical fiction, spotlighting the lives of Thomas Gainsborough's daughters, icons in their father's illustrious paintings. The narrative skillfully intertwines fact with fiction, exploring the intertwined fates of Molly and Meg, sisters born just a year apart. Molly grapples with psychological turmoil, while Meg stands by her as both guardian and confidante, a bulwark against the era's harsh judgments on mental health.

The novel paints a vivid picture of the era's grandeur, from the pastoral beauty of Ipswich to the vibrant energy of Bath. It sent me down a delightful rabbit hole, googling sedan chairs—those luxurious, human-powered vehicles navigating the era's grimy streets. The story also brings to life the expected path of privilege: the glittering "season," the whirlwind of balls, the quest for matrimonial alliances, all while being cocooned in the era's sumptuous fashions.

Equally enchanting is the peek into the household's heart—the bustling kitchen with its eternal hearth warmth, the tactile coolness of flagstone floors, and the intimate assistance of servants in daily grooming rituals.

A parallel tale unfurls, too, featuring a modern Meg uncovering the Gainsborough sisters' royal lineage. Unlike the jarring back-and-forth of some novels with dual timelines, this one weaves both strands into a seamless and engrossing read. Each storyline enriches the other, making for a thoroughly enjoyable dive into both the past and its echo in the present.

Well written and well plotted, though I would have a tough time saying I “liked” this.

Howes is a lovely writer and this is an interesting meditation on familial duty and the repercussions of madness, but it’s hard to get away from the fact that it’s a deeply depressing story populated by characters who are difficult to like.

It’s easy to feel some sympathy for the girls, sure, but I don’t think I would call them likable. And they aren’t especially interesting either aside from their dealings with the family’s strain of mental illness, which is mostly sadder than it is intriguing.

I thought the setting and sense of place were a bit of a bright spot (particularly in a book where the descriptive content—generally speaking—wasn’t great). I was intrigued by Howes’ evocations of each place the family lived, particularly Bath.

The story could have used stronger links to Gainsborough’s work, particularly since I’d imagine that’s what will draw most readers to the book in the first place. Without the art to being a sense of beauty and historical significance to the story, it mostly just feels like a swampy, tragic period piece. Great if that’s what you’re into, but if you were looking for greater insight into the great painter himself and what his life was like, look elsewhere.

I really enjoy historical fiction and this book fell in the sweatspot of the types of books I like. I was impressed with how well the author drew Margaret’s character and how powerfully she conveyed Margaret’s devotion and feeling of responsibility for her sister. Her desperation, as a child, to control the uncontrollable (her sister’s illness, her father’s philandering) to the point of eating disorder and constant, anxious vigilance was poignant and heartbreaking. My one gripe with this book is that it all felt largely on one level. The relationship that Margaret and Molly have as young children is largely the same as they have as adults. There is a brief moment of escalation when Molly marries Fisher but then returns to the same status quo. I understand that this is largely biographical but nonetheless, I wished there was more evolution to the relationship.

I’m sorry this one was not for me. Dnf just so dark and dreary. I probably expected a lighter read, so it’s not the books fault, just not for me. I do appreciate the opportunity and wish the author much success.

The Painter's Daughters is a beautifully written story about the bond between two sisters, Molly and Peggy Gainsborough. There are aspects of historical fiction, mystery, the art world dominated by their father, Thomas Gainsborough. Readers who enjoy Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell ought to give this one a read.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC.

DNF at 15% *

This writing style was not for me. It had a lot of vivid imagery, which I know some people like, but I needed more from the characters. They didn’t feel like they had an internal life and were just reacting to whatever happened around them. Peggy explained that she loved her sister, but we didn’t get to see the connection between them, just her worry and confusion about her sister’s condition. I wasn’t sure why Peggy felt that she had to hide what was going on - especially from her father, who she seemed close to.

Audiobook:
Having the two POVs named Peggy & Meg made it hard to differentiate when listening to the audiobook. I was really confused when the second POV was introduced and thought I’d missed a time jump.

The narrator had excellent vocal characterizations for all of the characters.

*I think it’s important to read a solid portion of the book before writing a review. If I get only this far into the book and am having trouble connecting to the main character, I check other reviews to see if it’s just a slow start, but other reviewers who finished the book agreed with the issues I had.

When I started this book, I did not know it would be so hauntingly beautiful. I believe it will stay with me for a long time. I hope to get my hands on a physical copy soonish to annotate and highlight.

This story starts with the young lives of the often thought wild and reckless girls of Thomas Gainsborough and what sisterhood means to both. We see small moments into the lives of the girls and start noticing small health issues in Molly. This story has taken me in quite the ride, leaving with warmth and tears.

Please, please check for those CW and TW. This book has quite a few I think worth checking out too, also some of the language while today would not be okay is very accurate for the times and should be viewed as such. No poo pooing this beautiful book because it decided to not sanitize itself

An informative historical novel. Well written sad account of two sisters, their famous painter dad and mental health in the 1700’s. The descriptions and situations that the author wrote about were quite well done. I really liked the way the second story line was brought in and explained at the end of the book. However, overall, it was an emotionally wrenching read. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

A fictionalized account of the lives of Thomas Gainsborough's daughters. This book may be fiction but the era portrayed is detailed in it's accuracy. Emily Howes does an excellent job of recreating the period's many expectations and restrictions that a young woman faced. The sisters were inseperable, partly to allow Peg to take care of her older sister, Molly. People with Molly's handicaps were often committed to an asylum where their lives were harsh and shortened. When the family moved to a more populous area, Molly's mental stability threatens Peg's future. The story gave me the same feeling as Forsyth Saga and others of the same genre. Lovers of this period will love this book.

I knew of Gainsborough's works, but nothing of his life, so this was an easy choice to pick up. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him, but his daughters were very intriguing. Their dynamic was loving while being resentful and combative against the spectre of the older sister's mental illness and the threat it constantly made against the family's desire for a quiet and genteel life. At times I forgot that Molly was the older sister with the way that Peggy looked after her and took care to hide any suspicious actions. From a very young age she knew something was wrong and made it her life's work to constantly protect Molly from herself and the unforgiving world outside of their home. But she was still very young, and making that decision came with costs to her own life and prospects that unsurprisingly made her resentful at times. Their story is interspersed with the tale of Meg, an innkeeper's daughter who has her own challenges to face. The two stories took awhile to dovetail, which made for confusing reading for a long time, but in the end all is explained, or at least theorized, and everything comes together. An enjoyable read.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

DNF at 44%

The Painter's Daughters is beautifully written. I'm not DNFing this book because I didn't think the writing was good. I'm choosing not to finish this book because the pacing is painfully slow and the points being made are fairly repetitive. There is a conflict promised in the blurb that still hasn't come and I don't care enough to continue on and find out how it resolves.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Historical fiction about the two daughters of painter Thomas Gainsborough in the 1700s, England. While there is some documentation about Peggy and Molly, the author has woven a story of their family life. During his lifetime, Gainsborough was not as famous and wealthyas his wife wanted him to be so there was always the stress of trying to keep up and provide well for the future for the girls, who were very different than the paintings.

The novel “The Painter’s Daughters” by Emily Howes immediately sparked my interest. It is the story of Thomas Gainsborough’s daughters, who were often featured in his paintings. I found that I couldn’t really get into the story. The writing left a lot to be desired for me and it was a little bland. I didn’t particularly like either of the daughters, either. It was an interesting read, but not my favorite.

A debut historical fiction about the lives of Peggy and Molly Gainsborough. I was hoping to learn more about their father, Thomas Gainsborough, a painter whose works I admire. But Thomas is a side character and often absent father. Molly has an affliction and at a young age Peggy feels responsible to protect her sister and cover for her. She doesn’t want her sister sent away and her protection continues into adulthood. The family moves from the countryside to Bath where Gainsborough finds further success. But the role for women is much more limited and there is little to no understanding of mental illness. Most of the story is focused on Peggy’s POV who begins out devoted to her sister and eventually resenting her as an obstacle to finding her own love and happiness. There is a lot of drama in their lives and the tone of the book is often melancholy. There is an alternate plot happening about Meg, an innkeeper's daughter, who gets involved with the Prince of Wales. That storyline eventually merges, but for a long time I wondered what was the point of her story. With historical fiction I always appreciate authors' notes at the end where they share their research and areas where they take liberties with facts or timelines to fit the story.