I won this Kindle version in a GOODREADS giveaway. ( )

THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY is an engrossing historical fiction novel. There are two different storylines. Just the way I like it when it comes to historical fiction novels. In the 80s is young Emma shocked to learn that the famous painting of her grandmother may be fake. This could mean the end of her music career as she is using the painting as a collateral to pay for her prestigious music school.

This book brought to mind Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell as well as Dora Carrington & Lytton Strachey. Why? Well, Laura was a painter and her sister wrote (hence Woolf and Bell) and Dora Carrington was a painter that was in love with the homosexual Lytton Strachey. And, in this book was Emma in love with Patrick, who was homosexual. Yes, I also thought about the relationship between Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin.

The book was interesting, I liked both storylines. However, I felt that the storyline in the 80s was slightly more interesting. But, that's probably because I was so curious to learn more about why the appraiser thinks it's a fake painting. Of course, it's not like you get to know why right away. Instead, you learn more about Emma's life with Patrick. We also learn more about Laura, who I would say idolizes her grandmother so much that she tries to imitate her life by having a gay best friend/"love interest". Then, we have Emma's mother who turned away from the art life completely. Which makes Emma more eager to embrace it. Anyway, let's just say that these women really need to sit down and talk it over.

THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY (you get the reason for the title while reading the book) is a great historical fiction and I recommend it warmly!

I want to thank Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

This dual line historical fiction novel takes place in London in 1980 and France in 1913. The time lines are told by a grandmother and her granddaughter and mesh together perfectly to bring a fantastic story about the art world of the early part of the century.

1913 - Emma is an artist and a free thinker. She lives to paint and when she falls in love with Patrick, a fellow painter, she feels that her life is complete and they shared their lives together for over 50 years despite the fact that he was homosexual. He painted her portrait when they first met and she kept it hanging over her bed.

1980 - Emma is 90 years old when an art appraiser decides that the portrait that Patrick painted is a fraud and was painted by one of his students. This will not only make her question her relationship with Patrick - how could he have lied to her? but it also effects her granddaughter Laura and her studies at a prestigious music school. Her tuition was being paid by the collateral on the painting and if the painting is a fraud, then the painting is worthless and the bank will call in the loan. Laura needs to prove that the painting was done by Patrick and she works with the appraiser to try to find out the truth.

Emma must face the truth of her past to help Laura gain her future.

This is an excellent historical fiction novel with two time lines that intermingle to give the reader the answers to the mystery of the painting. ( )

I liked the beginning and the ending but the middle bogged down for me.

The story centers around the provenance of a painting that's been used as collateral for a loan. For some reason, during the course of the loan, a museum has asked to use the painting in an exhibit. I'm not sure why Emma agreed to lend the painting to them. In the course of events, the museum sends someone (Ewan) to authenticate the painting. His report to them that the artist who painted it is not who they think it is makes waves--the NY Times picks up the story, causing the bank to negate Emma's granddaughter Laura's loan and threatening her schooling in music.

I am conflicted about the character Laura. I admire that she's trying to protect her grandmother from the news that the painting she thinks was made by her beloved companion may not be, but she comes off as a spoiled rich kid pouting that she can't continue her violin training and it will ruin her life. She seems to have little common sense about how she can get the bank to continue her loan--thinking she can just have her grandmother's say so about the painting and it will all be resolved, yet she also tries to negotiate that they will not take her grandmother's things to settle the loan because she doesn't want her elderly grandmother to have to give up what is familiar to her.

The story alternates between the 1980s and the early 1920s to unravel the mystery of how the painting is or is not the work of Patrick Adams. ( )