June Book Club - The Gallery of Vanished Husbands

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?

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.

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 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

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

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!

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

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.

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?

wish I had met him then, and bought one!

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 ?

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

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.

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

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.

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!"

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.

So some of yours have only just turned up? Only mine hasn't so we (gransnet) are wondering if the postman is reading it.

I was surprised but delighted to receive my free copy a few days ago so thank you very much! The blurb sounds great and I am really looking forward to reading it once I have completed my current one. Although I can multi-task in a wide variety of situations (as all Grans do), I find that trying to read more than one book at a time is most disconcerting - must be my age!!

Many thanks for my copy of 'The Gallery of Vanished Husbands' which I received this week. Currently in middle of reading 'Deep Blue Sea' Tasmina Perry. Really looking forward to reading 'The Gallery of Vanished Husbands'. I lt looks like a really interesting read and I love the cover. I have not read either of Natasha's other books, I do not know where she finds time to write with a baby and phd work and all!

I am enjoying this book so far [half way through it now]. I like the way the chapters are headed by the gallery reference to a painting, good idea that. It's a very descriptive book, evoking moods through weather and colour of sky etc. Juliet herself I find both likeable and annoying[ a bit like real life then.]I think the 60's is caught very well, without being banged over the head with obvious references to things, so,[ deference shown to customers in the opticians, leaving children tucked up in bed while she wanders off to an artist's cottage half a mile away in the wood, clothes and stifling conventions.] Juliet seems oblivious to the effect she has on men, though as a married woman who had fallen madly in love [with George, before she married him] that seems naive. The close knit Jewish family is brought to life beautifully [ I remember those households as I used to have a few Jewish friends.]The children, Leonard in particular, stand out as very rounded characters, in his touching hope of finding his Father and enjoying the mystery as he thinks his Father may be a heroic figure, maybe even a spy.
I found the description of Max's cottage in the woods so 'immediate' that I felt I was there observing it, all the painted friezes and little artistic touches, the dragon fireplace etc. In fact it made me want to start painting things [anything, walls or canvas] and I am not a painter of any kind, so that shows how a well written scene can affect you.

Thank you. A lovely pristine copy arrived and I am about to read it & then pass it on to my daughter who lives in Dorset. It certainly sounds captivating.

Thanks. A lovely new book just arrived and I'm looking forward to starting it.

I really enjoyed this book, and the character of Juliet. When I had finished it, I wondered about the title? I see that your other novels have been given different titles in the USA. I felt the emphasis of the book was less on the vanished husbands and more on Juliet's collections in her gallery and her own collection of herself. I thought the idea of a woman, an outsider, looking for herself in how others saw her, quite striking and original.