THE PAINTER’S DAUGHTERS showcases the life of Peggy and Molly Gainsborough in a way that is both heartfelt and candid. Howes’ beautifully written prose highlights the ups and downs that these sisters experienced throughout their years, in addition to flashing back to their mother’s early years.

What pulled me into this book is the simple premise that I have seen the paintings by Thomas Gainsborough of his family. Many times, when standing in front of a portrait, my mind wanders to what the lives of those depicted were like. I tell myself the facts I know, but there are moments when I let my imagination run a little wild. This fictional storytelling is the kinship I feel with Howes. She effortlessly conceived a narrative about the Gainsborough family that is believable and captivating. It is apparent the author did her research through the historical elements while still developing a world of her own.

THE PAINTER’S DAUGHTERS brings to life the girls captured on canvas through their love, pain, and strife. Howes wrote a tale that emphasizes that the bonds of sisterhood can go far past madness and perceived betrayal. Every moment spent with Peggy and Molly felt honest and I truly loved getting to know them.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Spice Level: High with sex on page but not in a titillating way
Language: Some swearing
Representation: Mental health

If historical fiction and art history are your jam, I think you'll like this book.

It's a detailed account of how the artist's daughter navigate life, a life that is confusing when Molly has her spells. Peggy is devoted to her sister, and that comes through like a shining light.

The second plot with Meg Gray confused me, interrupting the first narrative. Eventually it comes together (as in at the end). I think I would have liked the book more without this secondary plot because it took me out of the story of the sisters because it was so different.

I felt like mental health practices of the time were thoroughly researched and shown on the page.

Happy reading!

This was not a light fluffy read. This was a tragedy. And it pulled me in like Wuthering Heights but without a possible romance. The lure of something maybe wonderful to come, but alas it is written of the realities of our history. A past I wanted to look away from and I found uncomfortable. The novel is not true, not really. And it spoke of the harsh lives of women in a time I’m grateful I was not apart of. Women who controlled nothing and had to bear everything. It was also about sisters. Sister so entangled that I am still unsettled about them. When I finished this I looked for all of the painters work and love the art.
But after saying all this I found the writing brilliant. It is layered with conflict and passion of survival that was said so well. I am reader of most things who has turned into a reviewer by chance and these are my thoughts.
It was a painful 5 ⭐️ and I will be thinking about this one for months and grateful for my life. Thanks Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.

Just some of my favorite quotes:

“It is not fury with his lust. It is not the humiliation, as I had thought at first. It is fury with what he has debased. Trust. Faith. Honesty. It is fury that he has wasted those things in me, and that I have let him.”

“I gambled everything, and I won it for us. And you were supposed to ruin everything, but you saved me. And they don’t sing about that in the ballads, do they, Margaret Burr? They don’t sing about us.”

‘I cannot stand it! You act as if it has no consequence, as if people have no – feelings! You break words away from their meanings, until nothing holds true at all.’

“He takes a step towards me, as if he is going to explain myself to me in the way that only men do……It is not fair, I think, with a kind of despair. You may take what you want. “

The household of popular British portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough holds many secrets, not the least of which is older daughter Molly’s episodes of mental illness. Her sister Peggy tries to keep Molly from being sent away to Bedlam, even at the cost of her own future.

This novel plods along from one scene of sisterly devotion to another, occasionally interrupted by the spicier tale of their grandmother, an ale house girl impregnated by a prince. I wished for less modern-style family dysfunction and a more convincing eighteenth century atmosphere. Moreover, the novel could also have been at least one hundred pages shorter.

The Painters’s Daughters sounded so promising, but, alas, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

I received a free electronic copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes

I knew little about the 1700s English painter Thomas Gainsborough and nothing about his family. The story starts with the family living in rural Ipswich but Thomas's wife wants the family to move to the city because she feels their daughters, Molly and Peggy, are running wild. Mrs. Gainsborough wants better for their daughters, wants to be sure they are raised to be ladies and to marry well. Thomas wants for the girls to have a passion for something, similar to his passion for painting landscapes. Alas, to support the family Thomas must paint commissioned portraits more than he gets to paint landscapes. Often in the story, the lives of the Gainsboroughs are compared to the painting of portraits, or more precisely, the way that an original face, even after being painted over, will still manages to show through, in a way, when a new face is painted over it.

Peggy sees this painting over of one face, only for that old face to show through a painting, to resemble what her family does. Her sister Molly, one year older than Peggy, has something wrong with her. Peggy tries to hide Molly's strange episodes from her parents as long as she can, which is a huge weight for a child to handle herself. But her parents have to face up to the fact that Molly is not well. Mrs. Gainsborough wants Molly sent somewhere that can take care of her but Thomas and Peggy don't want that to happen. Peggy is willing to always take care of her sister, a promise she makes at a very young age. But that promise sometimes makes Peggy lash out in anger, causes her to act in disordered ways. This family of four loves each other but they can't help hurting each other at the same time.

There is another story interspersed with the story of the Gainsborough family. Meg is twenty years old and works in her abusive father's bar. There is a stable hand who loves her and wants to marry her but Meg dreams of something different and when that something comes along she makes a choice. It took me a while to start piecing together the connections between the story of Meg and the Gainsboroughs but once I did, it helped to explain several things to me. This is not a happy story, there is too much going on that is troubling, too much dysfunction in the Gainsborough family for the story to be happy. But it is a story of love, commitment, and dedication to the very end. Even when I couldn't agree with everything the characters did, I realize they often had very few or no good choices, and that they had strengths that helped them to get through times that most could not have survived.

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

As an admirer of Thomas Gainsborough's art, and knowing he painted his two daughters on several occasions, I was intrigued by this premise.
Gainsborough struggled between his art and finances, and he and his family attempted to present a particular image to his clients. His wife hopes for more for their daughters, and painters are finding more opportunities in the fashionable town of Bath, so the family moves there. However, his girls are struggling to live up to the image. The reality is that the oldest, Molly, has bouts of memory loss, sleepwalking, and confusion, and the younger sister, Peggy, cares for her and goes to extraordinary lengths to cover up the situation, hoping to keep her sister from being sent to an asylum. And the situation becomes more difficult for Peggy to conceal after the move. When Peggy falls in love, the fragilities of their arrangement and relationship are exposed.

A second storyline is told from the POV of a young woman named Meg, an innkeeper's daughter who wants to escape her circumstances and makes a connection with the Prince of Wales. How the two storylines intersect becomes a mystery for the reader, as the stories initially seem unconnected, but Howe manages to pull the threads together in a satisfying way by the end.

At the heart of this novel is the relationship between the sisters. Their bond and its many facets, including the lengths one sister goes to and the sacrifices she makes to care for the other, are explored in depth. The reality beneath the lovely surface shows sometimes blurred lines between protection/caregiving and control/mistreatment, and I felt for all involved.

Stylistically written, this is at times sad and heartbreaking. It is character-driven, and the character development is very well done, particularly with Peggy. It is also well-researched, with excellent world-building in both timelines. Bath positively comes alive, and I appreciated all of the historical detail. An impressive debut, and I look forward to Howes' next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I hated how the two (seemingly disconnected) timelines didn’t come together until the very end. I also think the prologue might have helped lend some insight, but it was absolutely disjointed and confusing - I literally think it’s 2 separate books that somehow got jumbled together?? I was mostly bored throughout and just never became invested.

I received this book as an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity.

I absolutely loved this author’s interpretation of the famous painter Thomas Gainsborough’s daughter’s lives and their lineage.

The author has written a beautifully endearing story of family, lovers and devotions.

#ThePaintersDaughters
#NetGalley
#goodreads
#emilyhowes

Set in the 1700s, "The Painter's Daughters" is the story of Peggy and Molly Gainsborough, the daughters of one of England's most famous portrait artists. The two sisters are best friends who have been inseparable from a young age. When Molly begins experiencing bouts of mental confusion, her younger sister knows she must help hide Molly's condition. After the family moves to Bath, Molly's slip-ups become harder to conceal as she slides deeper into her delusions. Peggy worries that Molly may be sent to an asylum and goes to great lengths to protect her sister. But when the charming composer Johann Fischer enters the sisters' lives, their bond will be tested. The story is also told from the point of view of a young woman named Meg Grey who meets the Prince of Wales while he is staying at her father's inn. Her connection to the Gainsborough family is not immediately known, but as Peggy questions her mother's heritage, it soons becomes clear.

There are two things you should know about me: 1) I adore Jane Austen; and 2) I am obsessed with all things royal. So give me a historical fiction novel set in the 1700s involving the British Royal Family, and you know I'm going to love it. The book started off a bit slow, and it became confusing with Meg's chapters interspersed with Peggy's. Who is this Meg, and what does she have to do with the Gainsboroughs? But when I started to figure out their connection, I was hooked. As a mystery lover, I enjoyed having a bit of a puzzle to solve and thought it made the story more interesting. After finishing the book, I read the author's notes and was shocked to learn that this story is based on real people and events. I stayed up way too late searching for more information and am impressed by Howe's thorough research. Overall, a fascinating story that will transport you back in time and keep you entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very interesting. It takes place in the 1700s and is about painter Thomas Gainsborough, his wife, and daughters. His eldest daughter, Molly, is not all mentally there. Obviously that was very bad in the 1700s. His other daughter Peggy tries to hide what is wrong with Molly as best she can because she does not want her to get sent away to an asylum. There is not a lot of good that happens in this novel. It is just everything the family goes through. They are not rich by any means but they get by. Of course they want their daughters to marry rich men so they will be taken care of, but Peggy knows it can never happen for Molly and it can never happen for her because she will always have to take care of Molly. It is rough. I guess this book is also about keeping secrets and sisterhood. Thomas Gainsborough painted his daughters so I had to look up his paintings so that was fun to see.

-And he will have to play the game that we all play, the game of blanking out the things that are not convenient to remember.

Have you ever wondered whether there's a story behind the people/characters in a beloved piece of art? This mysterious novel explores just that - the stories behind many of Thomas Gainsborough's paintings. The prose is beautifully crafted, but the stories' threads left me wanting more clarity. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of the Gainsborough sisters set in the city of Bath and the English countryside in the 1700s . The novel is beautifully written, with art and color infused into all parts of the story, but also as a contrast to the gray monotony of city life, poverty, and sickness. I rooted for the women in this story as they tried to fight against the norms and expectations of society but found myself wishing for more “wins,” however unrealistic those might have been for the time period.

“The Painters Daughters” by Emily Howes is the story or Molly and Peggy, the beloved daughters of Thomas Gainsborough. Often immortalized in Gainsborough’s paintings. The two daughter were in separable and completely devoted to one enough with Peggy, the younger of the two, often taking control and hiding the fact that Molly is suffering from bouts of mental confusion.

Howes has crafted a well researched, atmospheric story set in 18th century England. This dual timeline story bounces between Meg, the grandmother, and Peggy and Molly, the granddaughters. While both stories were interesting, I wish that the due timelines were more connected so the reader could understand what Howes was trying to convey earlier on in the book. Some of the story was repetitive and the characters, especially Margaret, the mother, felt somewhat flat despite being an interesting character. Overall, a good book with a great atmospheric feel that most historical fiction readers would enjoy.

I could not get myself into the story. It was an interesting premise, and I even read the summary multiple times to remind myself why I chose it, but I just couldn't find myself caring about what was happening in the story.

I’ve struggled with how to review this book. I received it as an ARC from the publisher, and it started so strong. It was a title I was interested in by the description. I loved the historical setting and the dynamic of the sisters and their family, but I really struggled with the ending. I didn’t want to give this book a negative review because it’s an amazing book, but the ending broke my heart and not in an enjoyable way. You might think that heartbreak is intrinsically bad, but half good books will rip you apart. Ideally they put you back together again a little too, this one did not. It’s still well-written, and I would read another book by the author.

This historical fiction novel is written about Peggy and Molly Gainsborough - daughters of the famous portrait artist in the 1700s. Molly experiences mental confusion sometimes and her sister does everything she can to cover it up. This book follows their lives through childhood to adulthood.

The topic definitely interested me, but it was slow at times. I couldn't rush through this one, but it was good overall.

4.5 stars

Peggy and Molly are sisters and best friends growing up in the countryside of England in the 1700s, daughters of the soon-to-be prolific painter, Thomas Gainsborough. The two are always getting into trouble together, much to the chagrin of their mother, who wishes her daughters to be proper ladies. They idolize their father for his free spirit and indulgence in their sense of arventure.

Despite their ages, Peggy is forced to take the leadership role in their relationship when Molly begins exhibiting signs of mental illness. Fearful that if anyone finds out, Molly will be sent away, the girls swear to keep her issues a secret. But as Molly grows more and more erratic, Peggy falls further and further in her parents’ esteem in her attempts to cover for her sister. Eventually, the family departs for Bath, in hopes that the bustle of city life and introduction to high society will motivate the girls to more ladylike aspirations. However, the more people around, the more pressure on Peggy to keep Molly’s secret. And as the girls grow older and more marriageable, Peggy wonders how there can be room for any other type of love in their lives.

This story spans decades of the Gainsborough girls’ lives, and cuts back and forth between them and the story of Meg, a small-town innkeeper’s daughter and her overwhelming desire to escape her circumstances.

The writing is accessible but still fitting for historical fiction, and I found myself highlighting tons of lines. I particularly loved the descriptions and symbolism using colors and art styles, and how beautifully it depicted Peggy’s view of the world. The love and tension between the sisters and all of the characters’ growing disillusionment with men and the society they’ve built cuts so deeply, I’ll be thinking about it for a while. I am uncultured swine so didn’t realize until I’d finished the book and got to the author’s note that this was based on real people and their stories, so that made it even more of a gut punch. Beautiful story, beautiful writing, and I recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

An interesting read that focuses on the two daughters, Molly and Peg, of legendary painter Thomas Gainsborough. They were born a year apart, Molly being the older, and stayed inseparable. Indeed, Peg faithfully kept secret Molly’s secret of her numerous psychological problems (serious mental confusion and behaviors that if discovered quickly would have led to confinement in an asylum) and really became her caretaker supreme. Both the time period and the characters fascinated me, but I sometime felt myself slogging through this story, perhaps because it seemed to move woefully slowly in parts. All seemed very well researched, however, and overall this was a good read.

This was an interesting piece of historical fiction regarding the two daughters of famous painter Thomas Gainsborough in England's 1700s. He would often make them subjects of his paintings. The author drew from documented history to tell a story about two daughters born a year apart, with the eldest Molly having intermittent psychological issues. The mother had a secret heritage leading back to royalty so hoped for them to thrive in polite society. The younger daughter Meg was quite devoted to her sister acting as a caregiver and keeper of her secret. While Molly likely belonged in an asylum, the family closed ranks to navigate the choppy waters of her mental illness.

I loved reading about all the trappings of this time in England, from the countryside of Ipswich to the bustling streets of Bath. A favorite item to search on the internet was sedan chairs used by the wealthy when travelling through the narrow and filthy streets of the UK at the time. The normal future for a young, privileged girl at this juncture was enjoying "the season", wearing fancy clothes, attending balls- ultimately looking for a suitable husband. I also enjoyed reading about the servants who maintained the cozy kitchen that always had a comforting fire burning in the hearth and flagstone floors, as well as someone to help you dress and fix your hair.

There was a dueling storyline involving another Meg, a descendant of the girls that slowly reveals the royal heritage of the Gainsborough sisters. Unlike some dual storylines that serve to leave the reader a bit dizzy, both were a pleasure to read in equal measure. The famous British historical fiction author Hilary Mantel read the book and said it was "beautifully written", and I have to agree.

Thank you to the publisher Simon & Schuster who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This is an excellently written character-driven historical fiction. There were several things that the author did wonderfully that made this read stand out for me.

This work follows Peggy and Molly from adolescence to adulthood. The author did an excellent job with their characterization and their growth throughout the read while still staying true to the original voices of the girls. The secondary characters were also strong despite not having much page time. Similarly, the setting came to life from the first page. Meaningful descriptions and interesting/relevant historical information were incorporated throughout the book, creating a vivid backdrop for this story.

The tone of this read was immaculate. It’s quite melancholy and the author’s writing played a big role in creating the perfect balance between lyrical and straightforward, aiding the tone. I did worry at the beginning that the writing would stray too far into purple prose, but that wasn’t the case at all.

I honestly feel like my review isn’t doing this book justice, it was that good for me. If you’re interested in a melancholic, character-driven historical fiction that explores sisterhood, protection versus control, and mental health, then I highly recommend this read.