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The Painter's Daughters
- Narrated by: Gemma Lawrence, Louise Brealey
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
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The Painter's Daughters
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Summary
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
What listeners say about The Painter's Daughters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hume
- 02-08-24
Fascinating
Loved this … how much is true? It had me gripped and i was impressed by the writer’s ease of storytelling.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dog Walker Sussex
- 16-11-24
The incredible narration
Fascinating story, informative and engrossing. This fifteen word minimum review is a joke and may stop me from doing reviews!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate
- 01-07-24
Loved it!
It took me a while to get into but I loved it. In many ways a timeless, funny, desperate and loving story of mothers, daughters and sisters.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 23-06-24
When the jailer becomes the prisoner.
I was initially confused by the two “separate” stories. It was not until the end that I was able to bring them together. Felt sorry for both Peggy and molly. One couldn’t help her predicament the other gave over her life to protect her sister. At times that protection came across as controlling and cruel. A sad hereditary illness that impacted the family as a whole.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-06-24
Wonderful
Superbly narrated, rich, layered narrative - beautiful written and sensitively read; a tour de force. I loved it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lucy Halberstam
- 03-04-24
A compelling account of the Gainsborough sisters and also of hereditary legacies
The characters and story are well drawn with enough to question and aspects of the story left unanswered. A really enjoyable and interesting read
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 29-05-24
Excellent
An outstanding book demonstrating a wonderful use of metaphor & other language devices to describe the complex relationships within the family, giving a strong authenticity to the voices of both children & adults.
I thoroughly reconnect it.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- kate
- 16-11-24
Too long
Laborious meandering tale where two stories run alongside each other frustratingly without any apparent connection for far too long. The whole premise is depressing
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