The Gallery of Vanished Husbands, by Natasha Solomons, Sceptre
It is 1958 and on Juliet Montague’s thirtieth birthday she heads out to spend her scrimped for savings on a fridge — those new conveniences transforming housewives’ lives all over the world and the perfect addition to a good Jewish mother’s kitchen.
Instead she commissions a portrait of herself from a louche young artist she encounters on London’s Bayswater Road and so starts a love affair which will dictate and dominate her life.
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands is the latest book from talented author Natasha Solomons, whose 2010 debut Mr Rosenblum’s List created quite a stir and placed her on international bestseller lists; and while not as instantly engrossing as Rosenblum, this slow-burning tale of love, ambition and rebellion in a stiflingly constricting community will capture your heart.
Juliet is a fantastic heroine: bolshy, courageous, stubborn and yet still touchingly vulnerable.
On an earlier birthday Juliet’s husband George walked out without warning or explanation taking Juliet’s most prized possession — a painting of her as a young girl — and leaving her with their two children.
Juliet knew George wouldn’t be back, but her parents, the rabbis and her community pray for her.
As the years progress with no word or explanation Juliet longs to move on, but branded an “aguna” — the name given to Jewish wives whose errant husbands will not divorce them — she is stuck in a purgatorial limbo.
Refusing to be defined by her situation, or worse pitied, Juliet embraces her passion for painting and becomes a major player in London’s post-war avant-garde art scene where her uncanny ability to spot major talent sees her setting up a critically acclaimed gallery.
An orthodox love affair and eventual journey to track down her husband are just some of the adventures that lie in Juliet’s path, but mostly this is an emotional journey of self-discovery as with every one of the close to a hundred portraits of Juliet that are painted by different artists another part of this extraordinary protagonist is revealed.
About the author: Natasha Solomons
Brit author Natasha Solomons describes her childhood in London and Dorset in England’s south as “very Enid Blyton with lots of ginger beer and grubby knees”.
And as a lover of stories in all their guises, says she knew she wanted to be a writer from age six.
“It was tricky though — I’m dyslexic and I was very slow at learning to read and write,” Natasha adds.
Nevertheless the 33-year-old mum is now a bestselling author. The inspiration for this latest novel came from her husband’s grandma whose husband left her in the ’50s to raise her two kids alone.
Her son went to university — the first in his family to go. I never met Rosie but the stories of such a remarkable woman helped inspire Juliet Montague,” she says.
Natasha has the “nugget of an idea” for her next book but confesses she’s “a little distracted by the giggles of my small son, Luke, who likes nothing better than to sit on knee and bash away at my laptop. I’m sure he’s going to be writer too.”
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