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A fictionalised take on the childhood of Thomas Gainsborough‘s daughters, I found this really interesting; the exploration of mental health, and also Thomas Gainsborough‘s desire for his daughters to live a happy life, not forced into the conventional path of marriage, yet leaving them both floundering as he has no idea how to articulate how that might happen. The writing and narrative lifted this above standard historical fiction for me.

Liked it, didn‘t love it and thought it dipped a lot in the middle.
Good historical detail and really interesting storyline.

“We have left our slippers and balled-up stockings under a bush. When the mud gets too deep, Molly said we should turn back, but the blackberries are turning and will be gone soon, shriveled up or pecked away by birds. And I want them. So I nagged and pulled at her dress and called her boring and begged until she came too. It is always me who pulls us into trouble, one way or another.”
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Haunting and beautiful historical fiction about Thomas Gainsborough's daughters 🔥🔥. The author writes young girls well and ages them naturally, giving their development a role in revealing this story's secrets. Gainsborough's paintings are referenced through the girls' memories of sitting for them and seeing them in their homes. I loved the writing, and gasped at the twists - also worth reading the bit about the art inspiring the plot at the end

To survive this, to get what she wants, she must be a thief, a cleaner, a navigator, a fighter, a cook, a whore; she must be a sufferer of blisters and loneliness and pain, she must be a hard worker, she must be tough and determined and unbreakable, she must not be an idiot, and now she must be humble.

On the third night, we pull in to rest at Reading, the horses muddy and weary, and all of us battered half to death. A blotchy and rather cross-looking king creaks in the wind overhead. Another King's Head. How many heads can one king have, I wonder to Molly, who rolls her eyes as if I have said something silly.

Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-the-painters-da...

Loving this so far. The ‘painter‘ Gainsborough was born and work a few towns over from where we live and I know his work well. It‘s really engaging to read the fictional story of how some his most famous pieces were painted - a real behind the scenes type tour!