The Painter's Daughters
By Emily Howes

This is a fictionalized version of the lives of Thomas and Margaret Gainsborough and their two daughters, Molly (Mary) and Peggy (Margaret). Thomas was an artist in the eighteenth century noted for his portraits of notable people of the time and his exquisite paintings of his two daughters.

Thomas' mother-in-law, Margaret Burr, gave birth to a bastard daughter who was provided for by the Duke of Beaumont, presumed to be her father. However, it is more than likely that the Prince of Wales, Frederick, was in fact her father. Molly suffered from porphyria, a rare hereditary disorder which can cause confusion and hallucinations – at that time leading to a diagnosis of madness and often institutionization. This is the same illness which affected "Mad King George the 3rd".

The story line here, with some liberties taken by the author, is pretty much factual. It is a sad story, both for the sufferer and the sister who gives up her life to be a caregiver. It is a behind-the-scenes look at British society and mores of the times.

The Painter’s Daughters is a sad and tragic look at the life of Molly and Peggy Gainsborough, daughters of English painter Thomas Gainsborough. Molly, the oldest, is inflicted with some type of mental illness, and Peggy, the youngest, is tasked with protecting her sister.

Little was known about mental illness in the 1700s and it’s never really made clear what Molly suffered from (though it is hinted in the author’s note at the end). I also think the story focused more on Peggy hiding and protecting her sister without really showing the reader why - I wanted to see more descriptive writing of Molly’s episodes. And do the parents really not see it or are they just in deep denial??

There were times I found it difficult to stay engaged with the story due to the slow pace and disjointed writing style. There was also the unexpected second storyline of a girl named Meg that initially threw me but in the end, I found interesting. It would also have been helpful if the author had indicated that this storyline took place in a different timeline than that of the sisters. Add in all the similar names - Meg, Margaret, Mary, Molly - and things could get confusing. Honestly, there were several times I almost decided to DNF but I’m glad I stuck with it as the two storylines came together in the end.

Bravo, Emily Howes, on writing a beautiful and poignant life history of the painter Thomas Gainsborough and his family. I didn't realize I needed to know this story but you have proved I did. It looks like Howes did a lot of research to write this and from what I have gathered from my own research, is pretty close to spot-on with most of the details and facts of this family. It was remarkable how, even with small elements, she was able to bring it all to life with stunning attentiveness.

This story has two parts to follow: one is the lives of the painter and his wife and children, Molly and Margaret (his daughters). Specifically we are reading through Margaret's eyes. We are introduced to them as young children and follow their upbringing - all the way through to the end. The sisters have a unique bond, one that is threatened time and again, especially as madness plays a big part in their relationship. I should warn that there is a lot related to mental illness, so if this is a trigger, please note it. The other part is about a woman named Meg, who begins a journey too few would be able to survive. These two parts do merge in a shocking way (unless you have done your research and know the history). Every time I opened the book I was intrigued and needed to know more. The heartbreak these characters go through is sometimes immense.

If you have ever looked at Gainsborough's paintings you will see them come to life in this book. And Howes creates the reasons behind each one as well. If you are a historical fiction lover, this is absolutely the book for you. I unfortunately had to wipe my tear filled eyes at the end because I knew there wasn't anything left to read. Everything came together nicely in the end, with explanation for the two story lines. If Howes takes on another project like this, I will devour it.

This is an interesting and lyrical historical novel about Peggy and Molly Gainsborough, daughters of Thomas Gainsborough, the famous 18th century portrait artist who often painted his daughters. Peggy is a protective younger sister as Molly struggles with bouts of mental confusion. When the family moves to Bath, rubbing elbows with polite society, the stakes for these two young women are raised and Molly’s increasing mental health issues sends Peggy into high gear to protect her sister from ending up in an asylum. This is a novel about art, sisters, protection and control. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

Two young English girls and their unorthodox upbringing in the mid 1700’s.

Mary (Molly) and Peggy (Margaret) are the two daughters of the renowned English painter Thomas Gainsborough, himself a founding member of the Royal Academy. Their early years are spent in Suffolk where they live a relatively unstructured life, a reason for discord between their father and mother; Thomas wants them to enjoy nature and be happy, while his wife Margaret (whose own origins are somewhat mysterious, with the author’s version of the truth only being unveiled towards the end of the novel) wants them to be young ladies above reproach. Peggy, the younger of the two, is more adventurous and impetuous, while Molly is more sedate and inclined to good behavior. Unfortunately Molly also has mental lapses, a sort of fugue where she either appears vacant or speaks nonsensically. Her parents don’t want to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with Molly, and Peggy instinctively does her best to cover up the lapses. After a particularly bad event, the decision is made to move to the city of Bath, where Margaret hopes the girls’ behavior and prospects can be improved and where Thomas can further his career. There, the girls will enter society, fall in love, and strive to live a normal life despite Molly’s condition.
The Painter’s Daughters weaves a beautiful story about life, love and sisterhood against a vivid background of life in the Gainsborough family at this time in English history. While I certainly knew the name Gainsborough as that of a well-known artist, and when I looked into his work I recognized several of his paintings, I knew very little about his life, and nothing at all about his daughters despite their having been his subjects on many occasions. The story is told mostly from Peggy’s point of view, and for those who loved the character of Jo from Little Women, Peggy will hold an appeal. The struggles to hide an imperfection at a time when young women of a certain social standing were expected to be free of blemish make a definite impression; mental illness in that time was neither understood nor handled well. Margaret trying to raise two “proper” young ladies against the backdrop of Gainsborough’s circle of musicians, artists and other reprobates makes for an enjoyable read. The character of Peggy is the most sharply defined, with the alternating narrator of a young woman named Meg also brought slowly to life (although the reader doesn’t find out exactly how Meg connects to the story until much later in the book, which rendered the storyline a bit loose). With themes of love, loss, control, devotion and betrayal, and the ways in which some of those are woven together, The Painters Daughers is an interesting imagining of the lives of these two young women. Readers of authors like Tracy Chevalier, Daisy Goodwin and Nancy Horan will likely enjoy this story. Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to an early copy of Ms Howes’ lovely novel.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on February 27, 2024.

This is very interesting book. Before reading the book, I didn’t have any idea who Thomas Gainsborough was. I thought that the set up of the book was well done though there might have been a better way to indicate that Meg’s story was in the past and not concurrently happening with Peggy and Molly’s story. I felt so bad for both daughters. All they wanted was to be loved. Yet with Molly’s infliction and society’s outlook on those who were not sound of mind I understand Peggy’s trying to hide any type of abnormality from public view. I love that this book looked at a famous painter from his family’s perspective. The children are many times forgotten. I think it is especially fun since he painted his daughters a lot and while the paintings looked picture perfect their true lives were far from it. This was a very interesting book overall, a tad to slow paced for me at parts but overall, I enjoyed learning something new about someone I previously didn’t know about.
Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

This is a novel that has a lot of say about sisterhood and women's lives in the 18th century, Peggy's loyalty to her sister is admirable. However, one has to wonder how much one of one's own wants, needs, and desires one should be willing to give up in service to another, especially at a time when her own prospects very much hinged up her own ability to find a suitable husband to support her.

It also has a lot to say about mental illness. During the time that the novel takes place rather than being judged as sickness to be treated, mental illness was something to be swept under the rug and hidden away. Although things have clearly gotten better since then, sometimes even now there is a stigma attached to the idea of mental illness, and it is not always dealt with in the open and honest way that it should be.

On the whole, the novel is well-written and paints a vivid portrait of 18th-century life particularly for women. However, it is definitely not an uplifiting novel and it can be hard to take a times.

In an effort to break out of my usual genres, I downloaded the eARC when contacted by the publisher. One of my goals for 2024 is to read more historical fiction, and this debut title from Emily Howes fits the bill.

British master painter Thomas Gainsborough had two daughters. From a young age, the younger daughter, Peggy, realizes something is wrong with her older sister, Molly. Worried that she will be institutionalized, Peggy tells no one of her sibling's condition. Intertwined is a story of a painter barely staying financially afloat and how this affects the entire family's situation.

I enjoyed the complex characters and the storyline. The writing was compelling and lyrical. However, it was too leisurely paced for my liking. It wasn't until well into the book's second half that my interest finally picked up.

Round up to 3.5 stars

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A beautifully written story of the lives of the family of English 1700's painter Thomas Gainsborough centered around his daughters, Peggy and Molly (well known subjects of his work when they were young girls. ). Molly suffers from an undiagnosed mental illness which periodically overtakes her and the sister's close attachment leads them (mostly Peggy) to learn to cover up the illness as best they can for fear that Molly will be sent to the madhouse. Meanwhile we learn of familial secrets and betrayals that have occurred within the Gainsborough marriage. A well written and researched biographical fiction that will appeals to readers of historical fiction and lovers of art and culture. Highly recommended.

A really endearing historical fiction that strongly stands without needing a popular or widely-known cast of real life characters. This dual timeline really gripped me quickly, with endearing life in 1700s Europe and a quick witted young girl who proves wise beyond her years. The story was engrossing and a tale of so many things - parents that fall from grace, first love, honor and obedience, expectations of family, sisterly bonds, survival... well written and a greatly appreciated ARC. Thank you!

The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes

The painter is famed British portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, and the daughters are keen observer Peggy and her mentally unstable sister Molly, his favorite subjects from their innocence childhood to their maturity. When he moves the family from rural Suffolk to the fashionable spa city of Bath, Peggy grows ever more protective of Molly, striving to keep parents and others from discovering the seriousness of her malady. She also recognizes her parents’ foibles and faults—an unfaithful father and a stern, social-climbing mother constantly aware that the family fortunes depend upon flattering and pleasing the rising artist’s wealthy and aristocratic patrons.

This is also a dual timeline story, set in an earlier period, as Meg, a desperate country girl, seduces and is impregnated by a German prince, the heir to England’s throne. Her history is woven throughout the novel, as she attempts to trace her royal lover in London and secure the support she believes and her child are owed. Before the conclusion of the Gainsborough girls’ story, her connection to them is clarified.

Howes paints with words as she reveals Peggy’s inner life, her love for and callous betrayal by a musician, and her constant struggle to cover her sister’s mental lapses and save her from the horrors of a madhouse. Molly, chafing at the severe attempts to control her, is determined to prove that she’s destined for a life of her own choosing, but her temporary escape from the family only plunges her deeper into distress.

The author depicts the Georgian era, domestically and socially, with painstaking and evocative detail, and the few lapses in accuracy cannot detract from the power of the writing and the characters, drawn with the same precision as a Gainsborough painting. A tale of devotion taken to extremes, with life-altering consequences, it is sure to please historical fiction fans. (Simon & Schuster, 352 pp., hardcover/ebook/audio, February 2024)

A historical fiction debut that intrigues one right from the start. Two sisters and the stories they share in a time when women weren’t allowed independence. A lovely painting of life’s ups and downs Thank you for the advanced reader copy.

Super interesting story of the two daughters of the 18th century painter Thomas Gainsborough. Peggy (Margaret) and Molly (Mary) are the daughters, sisters who are exceedingly close. When Molly begins to display some strange behaviors, Peggy takes it upon herself to ensure that her older sisters oddities do not become public. Although the younger sister, she develops a number of strategies to manage and control Molly's "episodes" so that no one is the wiser. Their parents are in denial so it's up to Peggy.

There are a number of Margarets (including the girls' mother) and Marys in this book, and a second storyline features Meg, a young woman who finds herself pregnant by the heir to the throne. Meg's story and that of Peggy and Molly become inextricably linked as the book progresses. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, The Painter's Daughters is the story of sisterly love and the lengths that sisters will go to protect one another. It's a little known story and incredibly poignant, one that any sister can relate to. A definite must read!

I couldn't get into the book, no matter how I tried. It felt like the book would switch the perspective and I just couldn't get down who each of the characters were.

The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes is an historical fiction that looks at the lives of the painter, Thomas Gainsborough's, two daughters, Peggy and Molly. While this is a time period I'm very familiar with, I didn't know much about Gainsborough's personal life and this book brings the world of mid to late 18th century England into sharp, clear focus. The book opens in Ipswich in 1759 and tells the story of these two curious, creative and inseparable siblings through their early years to the family's move to Bath and "polite society", and their father's growing fame as a portrait painter. Peggy, although the younger sister, finds herself needing to take care of Molly, and is constantly on a knife's edge of worry about her sister. Molly sometimes disappears into herself, causing Peggy to cover for her or make up excuses about her sister's odd behavior. These secrets are much harder to keep in Bath and as the girls get older, and Peggy struggles to try to find her own identity separate from that of her sister, as well as keep her sister safe.

The book also introduces a secondary story from earlier in the 18th century, with a character of a young woman whose father runs an inn. She has a chance meeting with an elegant young German aristocrat, and their clandestine nights spent together result in a pregnancy. The aristocrat, who turns out to be the son of King George III, eventually departs with his men and she decides to escape her abusive father and follow her lover to London, in the hopes of getting him to support her and her child. As her story unfolds, we realize that the young woman is the grandmother to these two girls, and her mother is the girl's mother, married to Gainsborough.

I really enjoyed the character development in this book, and the way the author was able to bring the two story lines together. The struggles of Peggy to try to navigate the strains in the household - her parents' somewhat difficult marriage, her sister's issues with mental illness, and her own growing pains - are poignant and heart-breaking. Howes is able to bring the layers of Georgian society in Bath, and stigma of mental illness and other social issues (like unwed pregnancy) to life. I always appreciate finding out more about an era and the people who lived in it, especially the lives of women, who tend not to be well represented in the history of a time and place.

The tie-in to George III's own mental illness is intriguing, and while there is not irrefutable proof that Peggy and Molly are his great-grandchildren, the author's note which discusses the type of mental illness George III and Molly had certainly raises questions about the potential genetic predisposition to the issues she experienced.

Overall, a very good read and one I'd recommend to readers interested in mid-18th century English or women's history topics.

The sisters were as naïve as they were on their portraits painted by their father. They thought they could solve their problems on their own when their father was only preoccupied with his work, and their mother with their heritage and potential husbands for the girls.

Their mother should have been more concerned about what that heritage left in their blood: how one girl had to battle a mental disorder, while the other tried to save her from going to an asylum. Their lives were revolving around how one could stop people figuring out what was wrong with her sister. One thing she was forgetting that she was a child herself too and committing her whole life to her sister would change the inevitable fact.

I loved how Captain's emotions and devotion were captured in the story. She was the only person in this book with legitimate worries over superficial ones her parents had. I felt sorry for her while appreciating what she decided to do for her sister. Stigma around mental illness was oozing from this book, and I was happy to be alive during these times when you have little bit more understanding

A story and rich imagining that will keep you reading late into the night.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.25 – 3.5 STARS

“The Painter’s Daughters is a historical fiction centering around Peggy and Molly Gainsborough—the daughters of the 1700’s English Painter, Thomas Gainsborough—and Peggy’s life-long devotion to protecting her sister, who suffered from mental illness at a time when treatment equaled an asylum lockup. Unfortunately for Molly, she lived during a period when mental illness was not understood and was looked upon as something shameful that needed to be kept hidden. While I found this aspect of the sister’s story both interesting and tragic, I struggled to remain engaged throughout much of this book due to the disjointed way it was written. Still, there were parts that were fascinating, especially in relation to the girls’ lineage. All in all, a fairly decent read, just not a great one.

"The Painter's Daughters" follows the women in the life of painter Thomas Gainsborough. Today famous for being the subjects of some of his most beloved paintings, this story looks at what life was life for his two daughters: Molly and Margaret (Peggy). Molly struggles with mental illness and Peggy takes it upon herself to try and keep her sister's malady a secret. Terrified that telling her parents will force them to be separated, she juggles trying to manage Molly, navigate the marriage market in society obsessed Bath and follow her own heart. We also follow a different story from a seemingly unrelated character named Meg. Pay close attention to the details and as the story progresses you can start to puzzle together just who she is and how she fits into the narrative of this family. This story is a fascinating, heartbreaking and a deeply impressive debut.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC