We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: The Painter's Daughters
Today we are talking about The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes. This book is a historical novel about the daughters of the English painter, Thomas Gainsborough. Best friends and frequent subjects of their father's work, they have a bond that goes beyond sisterhood. Older sister, Molly suffers from bouts of mental illness and younger sister, Peggy strives to protect her at all costs although the ultimate cost may be much steeper than even she could imagine.
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.
This novel will be released on February 27.
Today we are recommending Under the Influencer. This is a film about the fakeness of social media and the danger of tying one's self-worth to the vagaries of anonymous followers. A young media influencer begins to question her own worth when she attempts to share her true self with her followers. Rather than accepting her, they turn against her. She learns that to truly be accepted and make real connections, it is necessary to step away from the screen and step back into the real world. All in all, this is a fast-paced film with a good and interesting story and an important lesson to share.
Under the Influencer is available digitally for purchase or rental now.
And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.
Book images used in this post are our own. Film images have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or PR firms and are used by permission. If there is a problem with the rights to any image, please contact us here, and we will look into the matter
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