The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes
A book review – a rich and rewarding read
This newsletter sees me attempting to type as my bottom lip wobbles. The reason for this? Today is the last “official” day at secondary school for my oldest. Waaah.I feel astonished that we are already at this time. Where did the baby years go? How are we here already? We have an leavers’ assembly later and I must not cry. I MUST NOT CRY.
GCSEs are very intense, aren’t they? I don’t quite remember it being this full on when I sat them many, many, years ago. I feel like there is so much more pressure on children sitting exams nowadays. From Year 6 and SATs, it’s constantly drummed into them that they must revise, that they must do well, that the rest of their future depends on it. As a parent you can only try and reassure them that it will be okay. That they can only try their best.
I’ve tried to help with revision. English Literature, History, Physics etc. I would like to say it all came flooding back, but it really didn’t. I’m trying to ensure Oldest eats delicious and nutritious meals. Making sure she’s had a decent breakfast before her exam is something I can do that hopefully helps in a small way.
Fingers-crossed everything turns out okay.
In other news the sun is shining and I am very much here for that. I’ve been out in the garden, hopelessly trying to garden. I do very much enjoy pottering in the garden but I think I’m lacking any form of green fingers. But, nevertheless, what a privilege it is to have a little square of outside space that I can call my own. I’ve been feeling preoccupied for many reasons, but mainly the need to make big decisions. It’s also exciting but scary, a big dose of scary, so some fingers-crossing for that too. I won’t be able to uncross my fingers soon.
Finally, before we head to The Painter’s Daughters, I watched Conclave. In the UK you can watch it on Amazon Prime. It’s beautifully shot and exquisitely acted. Well worth a watch.
The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes
In The Painter’s Daughters, Emily Howes uses her to research to create a compelling story. This debut novel is a fascinating fictional retelling that explores the lives of Thomas Gainsborough’s daughters. Thomas Gainsborough was a celebrated portrait artist who immortalised his daughters through his artwork. In this novel Howes gives them an imagined life beyond the canvas.
From Sudbury to Bath
We follow the two sisters, Molly and Peg as they leave Sudbury to move to Bath with their family. You really feel for the sisters when they leave Suffolk. A home where they have felt free to explore and express themselves. They arrive in Bath and find themselves confined to the house and by society’s expectations. You feel their sadness and frustrations as it’s pressed upon them that they are the face of their father’s business and, therefore, they must behave perfectly - they have a public face that they must keep up at all times.
Told from Peggy, the younger sister’s point of view, we learn how all is not as it seems with the sisters. How Molly has episodes that make her eyes
“two blank stones in her face”.
Peggy takes the role of protector, trying to keep the true extent of her older sister’s mental illness hidden. Howes brilliantly evokes an intense atmosphere in the house and between the sisters, with Peg resorting to increasingly controlling measures so that she can try and keep Molly safe. Peggy worries that their mother will send Molly to an asylum.
Secrets Galore
Peggy’s anxiety leaps off the page. She holds many secrets and feels their heavy burden. Her home life takes a toll on her. She is violent towards her cousin and secretly starving herself before binging. Her father on more than one occasion states that
“secrets are poison.”
It’s a theme that runs throughout the novel - secrets and concealing. From the artwork with Gainsborough concealing messages in his paintings to the people he paints. Everyone in the family has a secret, her father and his affairs, her mother and the box with F on it and later her sister, Molly, keeps a secret from Peggy. We see the damage these secrets do to all involved.
What isn’t clear in the novel is what is wrong with Molly. There appears to be no explanation for why she appears to improve but then sharply declines again. All we learn is that she had a fever at a dance and this was the first indication that the illness had returned.
There is also a subplot that runs in this novel. Set forty years earlier, it gives us an understanding of Molly and Peggy’s mother, and the mysterious box with F on it. It is an interesting subplot, but it doesn’t come in until later in the novel. The novel didn’t need this subplot as there was plenty going on with the Gainsborough daughters, but I did find myself wanting to know what was going to happen next and how these two narrative strands were going to be tied together. I won’t spoil it but there is a big twist that gives us a greater understanding of the Gainsborough family.
Would I Recommend?
Historical fiction isn’t a genre I normally pick, but I found myself transported and totally immersed in the world of the Molly and Peggy. It holds a magnifying glass up to the family dynamics and the result is a beautiful and fascinating read.
If you would like to support The Bookish Magpie newsletter, you can purchase the The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes here.* The novel is also available from all good bookshops.
*This is an affiliate link and means that I receive a small commission for every book ordered.