Thank you to Net Galley for providing an early copy of The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes

The turbulent upbringing of Peg and Molly Gainsborough are brought to life in this thought-provoking tale of two sisters never at peace. With an artist father Thomas Gainsborough as the head of the household, one would expect their lives to be filled with beauty, calm and achievement. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Older sister Peggy (Margaret) at an early age must look after younger sister Molly whose frequent bizarre behaviors forces the family to consider placing her in an institution. Having rejected this idea, the entire family is at the mercy of what will befall them next. The sisters' wills will clash over a man Peg loves but Molly will win but with disastrous results. Thomas has become a well-known portraitist although his first love is painting landscapes. Ongoing strife with his wife Margaret adds to the family's struggles.

The story of a young woman working in the family tavern named Peg parallels the Gainsborough family saga and will conclude the story with surprising revelations..

Author Emily Howes has weaved a fascinating tale into the realities of the Gainsborough family.

This beautiful novel of love and sacrifice is based on the story of painter Thomas Gainsborough’s two daughters. Peggy and Molly are sisters, bound by a deep love for one another. As they grow up, Peggy becomes Molly’s protector as mental health issues begin to emerge in Molly. The characters are vivid and well-fleshed out, and the story is captivating and sad at the same time. I enjoyed this very much and recommend it to lovers of historical fiction. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author, for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my free and unbiased review of this book.

Emily Howes’s The Painter’s Daughters is a highly readable work of historical fiction. The novel takes up the stories of Molly and Peggy Gainsborough, daughters to 17th-century portrait and landscape artist Thomas Gainsborough (of Blue Boy fame). Gainsborough’s wife Margaret Burr Gainsborough was the illegitimate child of possibly a Duke but some say of the Prince of Wales. Hopes uses this connection to the total family as a possible explanation for the mental illness that Molly suffered, suggesting that she had inherited porphyria like her possible great uncle “Mad King George.”

Beyond the historical retelling lies the sisters’ intense bond, by turns protective and cloying. Part of the interest for me with this novel was my lack of familiarity with the history surrounding Gainsborough’s family. Howe’s fictional account offers a believable explanation for much of what can only be speculated upon. I found the book enjoyable and somewhat a page turner. Not the best novel I have ever read yet still quite good.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is historical fiction. It is the story of the famous painter Thomas Gainsborough and his wife Margaret and their children Margaret (Peggy) and Mary (Molly). His wife has a past concerning her parentage. Molly the younger daughter has mental health issues-sleep walking, fits, going into trances. Her younger sister is aware of what could happen if people start noticing this - being sent to Bedlam - a hospital for the insane. She tries to hide this from her parents also. Their story is intertwined with another story of Meg - a barmaid. I found both stories very interesting and they do come together at the end.
I enjoyed this book finding out about Thomas Gainsborough and his paintings. I recommend the book to whoever enjoys historical fiction.

Novel depicts the story Thomas Gainsborough, a famous painter in the 1700s and his two daughters, in case the title didn't give that away. The eldest daughter, Molly deals with bouts of mental illness and her younger sister, Peggy vows to protect this secret from everyone including their parents. This is an easy vow in their tiny town until the family moves to Bath and their mother thrusts the family "into society". Thrown into 18th century English high society the girls navigate society especially young men together. A gripping tale for fans of the painter who depicted his daughters often in his canvas.

I want to thank Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for allowing me to review an ARC of The Painter’s Daughters by author Emily Howes.
“It is good to be alone sometimes,.If you fill up every gap with people there’s no space to live.” So spoken by a man destined to ruin the daughter’s lives
I’m getting ahead of myself. Peggy and Margaret are the daughters and only children of Thomas Gainsborough. He was an artist born in 1727 and best known for his painting of The Blue Boy.
This is a sad tale of a broken family. Thomas spent most of his time hidden away in his studio trying to make a living while avoiding his wife who was concerned about social status and bringing up her girls to marry well. Molly, the older daughter had spells. Sometimes she just froze, sometimes she acted out and sometimes she walked in her sleep, even to going outside at night in her nightgown. Peggy tried to always protect her, even tying them together when they slept!
There is also a sub story about a barkeep’s daughter Meg who is badly treated and runs away to find her Prince,
This book may be of interest to those interested in the artist’s life and to women!
I found the use of a combination of mercury and other products to make a salve to treat his illness so frightening. They also confined him to dark closed in rooms!
The Painter’s Daughters publishes 02/27/2024.

This book is about the real-life daughters of Thomas Gainsborough, a famous painter from the 1700s. The novel takes you back to a time and place where you will see the differences between classes and the contrast between the wealthy and those who live in poverty. The many differences in food, clothing, housing and the social structure of the times. It is a fascinating story of the Gainsborough family and the bond between the two sisters, Molly and Peg. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Howes delivers a beautiful, haunting story that explores family dynamics, mental illness, love, and devotion in The Painter’s Daughters. The painter is the renowned 1700s artist Thomas Gainsborough and his two daughters, who were the subject of many of his canvases, are Peggy and Molly Gainsborough.

The sisters are as close as two sisters can be. When they’re young they play together, wandering the countryside to their mother’s dismay. They spy on their father together, learning things they’re not sure they understand. And they grow up together, navigating relationships with young men. But they also share a secret that began early in their lives when Molly begins to experience bouts of severe confusion. From the start of Molly’s mental troubles,

Peggy feels compelled to manage things for her, to sweep reality away from everyone’s attention.
With gorgeous language, Howes paints a portrait of two sisters’ relationship, revealing a complicated equation of love and control. The book rings with truth, insight, emotion, and candor. I loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my advance reader’s copy.

This was a melancholy read about a younger sister's life of sacrifice on behalf of her older sister. I can't quite agree with the description of it as 'a love song to sisterhood' since I was left wondering whether Molly ever really appreciated Peggy's sacrifice or if she mainly just felt stifled and restricted.

There was a second storyline not mentioned in the description. It was speculative historical fiction (or maybe not so speculative according to the interesting author's note). It was connected to Peggy and Molly's story. However, the tone and language were quite different from the main story, and while that might make sense given that this other heroine was older and from a different background, it still felt a bit disjointed to me.

Thank you NetGalley for the early read.

Really interesting and engrossing story. I found myself wanting to research and find out which parts were factual.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The Painters Daughter is the story of two sisters, Peggy and Molly, who grow up living in the shadows and observing their parents lives (their father is a famous painter, as the title might suggest, and a philanderer, which you may not get from the title), household, society, etc. However, Molly suffers from bouts of mental confusion or psychosis and there’s only so long that Peggy can help her keep that publicly concealed. Once Peggy falls in love and her priorities shift, the story takes a swift turn.

Overall, this book was well written and especially enjoyable for fans of a Jane Austen style setting! It does move slowly, especially in the beginning, and I found myself wondering what the point of the story was. Once the primary twist of the story was thrown in, it began to pick up a bit for me and kept my interest through to the end. I thought the relationship between the two sisters was very well developed and I was clearly able to discern the great connection there, despite their challenges growing up, given Molly’s condition. The author is extremely descriptive in writing about the sisters’ bonds, emotions, and their physical surroundings as well. I appreciated how the author was able to clearly convey to the audience some of Molly’s mental issues but, was also able to be realistic in her showcase of how this was perceived by society at the time.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to historical fiction fans; there’s a lot of information that you can continue researching after you read the book! I’d also recommend this to fans of regency England stories and those who enjoy a slow burn.

This is a fascinating book about some relatively obscure figures who have been lost to history. I became completely invested in the story, and stopped at several points to look up information about Thomas Gainsborough and his family. Lovers of historical fiction, in particular, will enjoy this one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars for me. Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC of The Painter's Daughters. I always appreciate a deep dive into a historical period or figures that I am not very familiar with and this novel delivered. The author does an impressive job of detailing the scenes, sounds, smells of that time period in a very realistic manner. The novel follows the daughters, Peg and Molly of Thomas Gainsborough, considered one of history's most famous portrait artists. The author does a great job capturing the sibling relationship and the mental illness struggles of Molly and how they would be perceived at that time (the author's note does give some insight into why Molly might have been suffering). I also loved the devide of the chapters from "Meg"'s point of view though I started to piece together who I thought Meg to be. I appreciate when a novelist can really help historical figures come to life and thought she did a great job.

Fascinating read. I enjoyed the writing style and found myself googling the family for more info and to see the portraits. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes is a beautiful novel of two sisters, Peggy and Molly, daughters of the painter, Thomas Gainsborough. Molly is not quite "right" and Peggy is her not just her sister and companion, but also her protector. When a man, Johann Fischer, comes into their lives, their lives are thrown off balance. Highly recommend!

I found this to be very uneven. I wish the epilogue would have been rewritten as a forward because through the entire book I was finding the story of Meg and Frederick to be unnecessary to the plot. The author tied it up at the end but it was too late for me. The story of Peg and Molly was so co-dependent that it was unhealthy for both of them. A very confusing family dynamic and history.

I absolutely loved this book. Thank you author,Emily Howes and NetGalley for the arc ebook. Many years ago,I had seen the original painting of The Blue Boy at the Pasadena Art Museum in CA and knew of it’s fame but nothing more.This book brings to light the background of it plus more information of it’s creation by Thomas Gainsborough and his family in the 1700’s in England. This book was more focused on his two daughters,Molly and Peggy and wife than he which made the whole story even more interesting. One daughter had a hereditary illness called,porphyria which was handed down through King George III. The story was so compelling that I had to keep looking at TG’s paintings of his daughters,etc and then reading his bio on Wikipedia after finishing the book. The descriptions by the author were superb making it easy to visualize everything.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book that I got from Netgalley. Howes has a way of writing that puts you right in the story and lets you feel what the characters are experiencing. I went into this book never knowing about a painter named Gainesborough, just thinking it was an historical novel and enjoyed the story of two sisters and their parents and all the hardships.

I also liked the side story of Meg and how that intertwined with the main plot. After finishing the book which I very much liked, and then reading the author's notes at the end saying it was based on real characters, I liked it even more. Very well done book and I will recommend it to others.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about this book before I started it - while I love historical fiction, I was slightly worried that the topic of two daughters of a painter I hadn't thought of in a number of years might bore me to tears, and after a string of very mediocre books in the past months, that was the last thing I wanted. I did not need to be concerned with this, at all, as I was excited to find out.

Seen mainly through the eyes of two characters, Peggy and Meg, both with their very own, yet very distinctly different troubles. Enough people simply regurgitate the plot line, but I will save you from reading it yet again.

The only possibly criticism I could see would be from purists who think the characters may sound a bit too modern. I didn't feel it was an issue for me, and helped me connect with the characters in a way that might not have been possible if they were speaking identically to those in the 1700's. And who knows - given the Victorian prude era hadn't yet begun, perhaps Meg's thoughts about her fling weren't far off from what she really thought.

I highly recommend this one to anyone with even a passing interest in historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this history lesson, a storyline focusing on Thomas Gainsborough, a painter in the 1700s, and his two daughters, Peggy and Molly. Peggy keeps Molly safe as the adults around them do not seem to notice Molly's forgetfulness. As the girls age and they become part of a different community, we begin to see what happens when outside influencers come into their lives and the impact that has on the sisters' bond. I enjoyed the trip back in time, and felt the author did an excellent job of comparing and contrasting all the different aspects of life and society, but also how well she placed the reader into the setting. I also appreciated the deep dive into familial bonds.

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