Overview

THE NUMBER ONE KINDLE BESTSELLER SELECTED FOR THE BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB WINNER OF THE MSLEXIA NOVEL COMPETITION 'Beautifully written . . . I raced through it' HILARY MANTEL 'As exquisitely and tenderly rendered as a Gainsborough painting' TRACY CHEVALIER 'A wonderfully powerful and haunting novel with a hugely gripping plot' DEBORAH MOGGACH 'A rich evocation of secrets, art, sisterhood and class' i PAPER 1759, Ipswich. Sisters Peggy and Molly Gainsborough are the best of friends and do everything together. They spy on their father as he paints, they rankle their mother as she manages the books, they tear barefoot through the muddy fields that surround their home. But there is another reason they are inseparable: from a young age, Molly has had a tendency to forget who she is, to fall into confusion, and Peggy knows instinctively that no one must find out. When the family move to Bath, Thomas Gainsborough finds fame as a portrait artist, while his daughters are thrown into the whirl of polite society. Here, the merits of marriage and codes of behaviour are crystal clear, and secrets much harder to keep. As Peggy goes to greater lengths to protect her sister, she finds herself falling in love, and their precarious situation is soon thrown catastrophically off-course. The discovery of a betrayal forces her to question all she has done for Molly - and whether any one person can truly change the fate of another . . . Inspired by true events and told with irresistible vibrancy and wit, Emily Howes' award-winning debut is a captivating and deeply moving novel about art, sisterhood and the price we pay for love. 'Vividly imagined and exquisitely brought to the page' RACHEL JOYCE 'A beautiful debut' JO BROWNING WROE 'An incredible first novel that'll leave you scouring the real-life paintings for clues' STYLIST 'Fascinating' WASHINGTON POST

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9781399610780

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Reviews

A feast for the senses and the joy of a story well told - a beautiful debut -- Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness I loved The Painter's Daughters - a vivid, sad, beautiful novel about sisters -- Amy Key, author of ARRANGEMENTS IN BLUE A brilliant novel . . . the writing is sublime. It is like being transported back in time. I didn't want the story to end. If you enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, you'll love this -- Karen Angelico, author of EVERYTHING WE ARE It's beautifully written and I raced through it. Research is filtered through contemporary consciousness and deployed with skill. It's a polished performance -- Hilary Mantel, chair of judges, Mslexia Novel Competition

A feast for the senses and the joy of a story well told - a beautiful debut -- Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness I loved The Painter's Daughters - a vivid, sad, beautiful novel about sisters -- Amy Key, author of ARRANGEMENTS IN BLUE A brilliant novel . . . the writing is sublime. It is like being transported back in time. I didn't want the story to end. If you enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, you'll love this -- Karen Angelico, author of EVERYTHING WE ARE It's beautifully written and I raced through it. Research is filtered through contemporary consciousness and deployed with skill. It's a polished performance -- Hilary Mantel, chair of judges, Mslexia Novel Competition A mesmerising and at times quietly devastating tale of two sisters, art, shared suffering and love. With The Painter's Daughters, Emily Howes has pulled off the finest of balancing acts, combining rich and evocative historical detail with a light and contemporary writerly touch -- Chloë Ashby, author of WET PAINT

Author Information

Emily Howes has worked as a storyteller, theatre maker, performer, writer and director in stage, television and radio. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Bath Short Story Award, the New Scottish Writing Award and she won the Mslexia Novel Award 2021. In addition to writing fiction, Emily has a Masters in Existential Psychotherapy and works as a psychotherapist in private practice. She lives in London with her children. The Painter's Daughters is her first novel.

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