June Book Club - The Gallery of Vanished Husbands

Receive my book a couple of days ago, I am enjoying this beautifully written book, unusual plot, I am halfway through it , so hopefully will be able to post a comment /question as soon as I have read it.

Really enjoyed this book-totally entertaining with no dark side which makes a change. One forgets how restricted life and social relationships were when we were young--our children would have been shocked at "what wasn't done!"

My copy arrived last Friday, thank you! I'm about a third of the way through, and I think it's great. I love that era, late fifties, early sixties. I will have finished by the weekend and will ask a question if I have any.

Just about to start this as we have been away on holiday. Many thanks and will add my thoughts soon.

Great book, thank you!
Natasha has really got to the core of attitudes in the 60s - not just Jewish. I remember "what will people think" being the first thing in some peoples minds. Mrs Greene is so like so many women of the time.
One small thing that has stuck in my mind - the perm that Juliet had when she was trying to look part of the 60s scene - I had one of those and it was ghastly - I had to face the laughs and looks at school with mine.And, yes, a fierce haircut was the only answer!
My only question for Natasha - how did you manage to research the details so accurately - you have captured the mindset of the characters so well, yet you are too young to have lived through the 60s to have seen it first hand.

I am enjoying reading this book. It captures the 60's so well and takes me back to my teenage years. Excelllent!

My copy arrived last Saturday and I'm really enjoying reading it. It evokes the sixties well and I'm finding the insight into Jewish family and religious life very interesting. I can't wait till bedtime so I can read more of it!

I would like to ask Natasha if her own Mother helped her with the book; attitudes, conversation, fashion etc.Also if David Hockney really DID say that sentence about only selling his work for £100 ?

wish I had met him then, and bought one!

What a great read! I particularly enjoyed the relationships between Juliet and her parents and her relationship with Leonard and Freida. The descriptions of Freida's rights of passage into adulthood was touchingly funny. The description of Toms suicide and the emotional turmoil that ensued was beautifully depicted. So many events that would have come into conflict with many faiths not just Judaism were woven through the story. Being gay, suicide, sex before marriage to mentions a few reminding me of how challenging the sixties were. There was also an awareness of those who had not survived the camps running like a thread throughout the book anchoring those who had survived more firmly in their faith.

I would like to ask Natasha if her research showed if many women were influenced by the 60's liberalism and rejected their Jewish faith and moved towards secularism?

I have only read a few chapters of this so far, but it seems tragically ironic that Jewish people who had so many families slaughtered would deliberately ostracise one of their own! I was brought up in the Church of Scotland and they had some cruel ways of dealing with folk too years ago, all done in the name of faith.

I loved this book and will now go and seek other novels by this author. It did bring back memories of attitudes in the fifties and sixties and even in the seventies when my own children were small it was impossible to be close friends with the jewish mums in our community because of their strict customs and beliefs. Juliet was such a strong character. I found her story extremely poignant yet uplifting. A really good read

Delighted to receive a copy. I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the art world of 1960s London. It looks like just the thing to read in the sunshine with a glass of Pimms!

Thanks so much for this book. I'm about half way through and am enjoying it a lot. Natasha writes very graphically, descriptively and I'm able to picture the scenes, the places, the settings very clearly. I'll be back with my comments/questions when I've finished but for now am happy to relish this read

I so enjoyed this book- I read it in just a couple of days, thanks to footy on TV!
I really loved the descriptions of the paintings- so vivid I could see them & also the mood of the 60s was well described. I would have been Freida's age so I can remember the fear of not getting it quite right all the time - but being a bit scared what would happen if I did. I remember so well how important is was to be cool, wear the right clothes & makeup when sometimes I still wanted to be a child. I expect it is the same for all young teenagers even now.

I will look for Natasha's other books now- I think they would go down well with my reading group.

I'd like to ask if Natasha paints at all herself?- If not she obviously has a very good eye & I think maybe she should!

A lovely book- thank you

Thank you for my copy of The Gallery of Vanished Husbands. I would like to ask the author where she gets the ideas for her stories from- particularly this one and The Novel of the Viola which I already had. Why and how did she first start writing and has she any tips for a buddy author struggling to write a first book.

I think Rosie is the real star of the book even though we don't get to read about her until right at the end! Hats off to all the Rosie's out there.

I've loved this book and am so glad I got a chance to read it. I really enjoyed the characterisation and felt that the attention to detail made the characters live for me. I loved the way the various strands and themes of the story were woven together portraying the journey through time. The use of a painting to capture each time capsule was enthralling. As a painter I really enjoyed the 'painterly' action and the authentic feel of those sections. The struggle between orthodox Judaism and the liberal 60s was so well portrayed and kept my attention throughout. It was so good to see a strong central character in Juliet and yet to also see through the eyes of Frieda and Leonard as they picked their way through the quagmire of their colliding worlds.

I feel that a lot of background research went into this book and I'd like to ask Natasha how she went about that. Did the research develop along with writing the book, or did she do a period of research before starting writing?

Thank you so much for my copy, it arrived yesterday. I look forward to reading it very, very soon. Just love the Gransnetters' book suggestions. I certainly have not had a single disappointment, the variety of books recommended is fabulous.

I started my copy last night, and wasn`t sure if it was my thing, am halfway through it now, and loving it! Would have preferred it if Grannybug hadn`t given some of the plot away!

I couldn't put this book down, it is captivating. I headed for the computer with it in my hand to look up exactly what the Jewish terms were. I feel that I have learnt and absorbed information about the Jewish culture that I was never sure about before. So much so that I have had a go at making latkes today. Delicious. Natasha Solomons has the generation divide of the sixties to a tee. I loved the references to David Hockney too rosesarered I don't have any questions for Natasha that haven't already been asked but would like to say thank you for the book to both Natasha and Gransnet

I have finished reading the book now, it's the sort of unputdownable novel that I like to read. I liked Julia less and less though as the book went on.
She wasn't a good mother at all to either child.Poor Frieda even escaped into a marriage that wasnt right for her, as a way to fit in with her society and of being given love.The children were neglected in all kinds of ways.With it right under her nose, she didn't even see that Leonard wanted to be a painter.Juliet could have moved her family away, so they didn't have to live in a community that pitied them, why on earth didn't she? That question was asked [at the end by a grown up Leonard] but she gave vague enigmatic reasons.Juliet was a rather cold and even selfish character.She did mourn George, and she did love Max [another cold and enigmatic and selfish character.]However, she could be a hard person too, with the way she treated the other painters, especially Charlie, who she knew loved her.A strange woman too, as her own Father mused, who wanted a hundred portraits of herself all over the house, but no photos of her own children.Of course, no author has to make the central character entirely likeable, and I often found myself annoyed with her, which means that I felt fully engaged with the novel. People in real life are flawed after all.A great read, and I think that now I will re-read it in a month or so.

I finished the book last night and really enjoyed it. I started off feeling sorry for Juliet but as the story progressed she became more self-centred and some of the sympathy went. I did have tears in my eyes when Max died.

I notice that the story is roughly based on what happened to Natasha's husband's grandmother and would like to ask what Natasha's family's reaction was to the way the Jewish family and values were portrayed in the book.

I'm not sure I entirely understood Max's reasons for being so distant and not joining in at least some of the exhibitions or family and friends' events. I also found Juliet to be quite self-centred, dragging her kids off to California and accumulating all those portraits of herself. The impact on her children of her neglect of their aspirations didn't surprise me as her parents overrode her aspirations, too. The fact that she was Jewish was irrelevant for me, for much of the book - I had to keep reminding myself that this might be the reason her parents and relatives were not enamoured of her lifestyle and success with her gallery. The characters were all portrayed in a way that I didn't feel I could empathise either them, so when Tom's letter alerted them that he was going to take hoisown life, I felt no jolt of shock, or sympathy.

I'd like to ask Natasha - did you set out to keep the characters distanced from the reader? I found it an interesting book nonetheless and read it in four days. Are any more being written?

I really enjoyed it but like others I found I lost sympathy with Juliet as the story progressed. I felt her children were neglected and that she was very self-centred. I liked the Jewish aspect of the story but wish a glossary had been included. I'm going to try other books by Natasha Solomans.