I found The Painted Girls by Cathy Buchanan randomly at a thrift store. I had not heard of the book prior to coming across it so I knew nothing about it. It is a historical fiction story that takes place in Paris, France in 1878. It revolves around the three van Goethem sisters; Antoinette, Marie and Charlotte. They live with their alcoholic mother in a poor part of the city and have to try and find a way to pay rent and survive. This leads the youngest two sisters, Marie and Charlotte, to the ballet and the oldest, Antoinette, to less glamorous work. The sisters have their issues with each other but their bond is unbreakable and they realize how much they need each other.
I liked this book. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. In my opinion, parts of it were just very dull. It was one of those books where I had to make myself get through some of it just to get to the really good parts. To be honest, I don’t regret reading this but I probably won’t read it again.
If you like historical fiction you might would like this, especially if you don’t mind slower reads. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!
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