I read "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by this author a couple of years ago and really loved it. I always wanted to read something else by her. Now, I came across this book and it's about a female paper from the Baroque period. I had never heard of Artemisia Gentileschi even though I love art. Typical, women are never acknowledged much.
To start, I really like the note by the author. She mentioned that any work of fiction about history or a historical character ist still a work of imagination, not of reality. Based on known evidence, she spins her story. She used actual works of the artist and actual occurrences. I loved that.
Her style or writing is very vivid. Her descriptions are very detailed. We could see how people at the time lived, what were their hopes and fears. How did the church impact their lives?
Through this novel, I got to know a wonderful woman, a keen and gifted painter who struggled with the constrictions of the time but who nonetheless created some beautiful art.
I will look for more books by Susan Vreeland. Let me know if you've read one.
From the back cover:
"From extraordinary highs - patronage by the Medicis, friendship with Galileo and, most importantly of all, beautiful and outstandingly original paintings - to rape by her father's colleague, torture by the Inquisition, life-long struggles for acceptance by the artistic Establishment, and betrayal by the men she loved, Artemisia was a bold and brilliant woman who lived as she wanted, and paid a high price."
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