Have you ever looked at a painting and wondered what it must have been like for the artist to paint it? Have you ever wondered what their lives might have been like when they were painting these images that have sparked discussion and intrigue? Usually, we tend to focus on the male artists and their lives, but there has been a trend in recent years to tell the stories of women artists. Take, for example, the story of Maria van Oosterwijk and her maid Geertje Pieters Wyntges. Can these two women find their own successes during Amsterdam’s Golden Age through their art while navigating their own feelings towards each other? Victoria Redel explores the lives of these two women in her latest novel, “I Am You.”
I would like to thank Zando/SJP Lit and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I did not know anything about Amsterdam’s Golden Age or about Maria van Oosterwijk or Geertje Pieters Wyntges. It was one of those books whose premise intrigued me so much that even though I am not familiar with 17th-century art or the history of the Netherlands, I wanted to give it a shot.
Our protagonist is not the famous floral artist Maria van Oosterwijk, but rather her maid, Geertje, who is known in this novel as Gerta Pieter. During her youth, she dressed as a boy, worked for Maria’s family as a servant, and went by the name Pieter. It’s not a glamorous life, but it allows Pieter to stay close to Maria, whom Pieter admires from afar. Maria is a talented artist and attracts the attention of male admirers, but she is only interested in her art. When Maria gets the opportunity to go to Utrecht to study under Jan Davidsz de Heem, Maria insists that Pieter go with her as her maid, Gerta. Gerta accepts.
It is at this point that Gerta and Maria begin their lives together. After her apprenticeship with de Heem, Maria decides that they should move to Amsterdam, which they do once the plague dies down. It is there that Maria and Gerta meet artists like Rembrandt and Willem van Aelst, the poet Constantijn Huygens, and the art dealer Jan Six. However, the person who left the biggest impact on the lives of Gerta and Maria was Maria’s orphaned nephew Jacobus. Gerta and Maria grow closer as student and teacher and would eventually become lovers. But their social standings would always separate them, and Gerta would realize that love with Maria would be more complex than she had imagined. Behind the beautiful flowers they painted lies a darkness of betrayal and the pain of love being used as a pawn in a bigger game.
This was a richly woven tale of love and betrayal told from the perspective of a maid in love with her mistress. It is raw, especially one scene, and it shows how one person was able to bloom in the midst of love, betrayal, and heartache. “I Am You” by Victoria Redel is the perfect novel for anyone who wants something original and tells the tale of two women artists from the 17th century and the love they shared for their art and each other.
When we think of Elizabethan England, we tend to think of the Golden Age of England. A time of discoveries and for the arts to flourish under the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I. However, there is a darker side. It was also a time of espionage, fears of invasions from other countries, and the hatred between Catholics and Protestants. The dangers of the Elizabethan underworld have reached the queen, as there is an attempt on her life. Can Jack, the son of a crime boss, change his life and find the culprit before they find him, or will he be betrayed by those he calls his friends? Amie McNee explores the seedy underworld of Elizabethan England in her novel, “To Kill a Queen.”
The daughters of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon lived very interesting lives. Of course, we know what happened to Katherine of Aragon, but her elder sister, Juana, has her own tragic tale. She was known as Juana the Mad because the rumors were that when her husband, Philip the Handsome, died, she carried her coffin around for months and would not let him be buried. Was Juana truly mad, or was it all a ruse by powerful men to steal her lands and titles? Lynn Cullen explores Juana of Castile’s life in her novel, “Reign of Madness.”
Stonehenge, a marvel of the ancient world that still stands centuries after it was built. It has been the center of mystery and wonder for all who gaze upon it. A gigantic monolithic structure, whose purpose has been a source of discussion since its origins, but that raises another quandary: who were the people who built such an impressive landmark? This single question presents a grand opportunity for historical fiction writers as we don’t have many written records for this period of time, which means authors have room to play. Ken Follett took on the daunting task of telling the tales of those who built this imposing monument in his latest novel, “Circle of Days.”
Have you ever wondered what it might be like for a historical fiction writer during their writing process? How do they balance both their own lives and the lives of their characters? While we can read author interviews to find out what goes on in an author’s mind, why not take a fun twist of a historical fiction author writing about a historical fiction writer writing her first historical fiction novel? Meet Lucy Ellis, a new writer who is writing her first novel about the death of Amy Robsart while recovering from cancer and going through a divorce. Can Lucy finish her novel about Amy Robsart before her life and her health come crashing down? Wendy J. Dunn tells the tale of two women betrayed in her latest novel, “Shades of Yellow.”
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Author Bio
There’s nothing like a quest to keep a man going, even on the brink of death, but in the case of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, he has several quests. His main goal is to reclaim his birthright, Bebbanburg, but he also wants to help fulfill Alfred’s dream of uniting the kingdoms to create England. However, life can present even more challenges, and Uhtred knows this all too well. Uhtred not only has to save a royal heir and his daughter, but he also must find the sword that wounded him and place a woman on a throne to rule in a time when women were seen rather than heard. It’s a lot to do, but if anyone is up to the task, it is Uhtred of Bebbanburg. The question is, will he survive? Bernard Cornwell brings us another action-packed novel full of adventures in book 8 of the Saxon Stories series, “The Empty Throne.”
The Plantagenets, one of England’s most dynamic dynasties, were always in the middle of some sort of conflict. Whether they were fighting foreign adversaries, their own people, or their own family, it felt like the Plantagenets were always getting into some sort of trouble. And there was one king who knew how to use the weaknesses of the kings of England to his advantage. He was King Philip II of France, also known as Philip Augustus. He had to deal with four different Plantagenet kings and had a strategy for each one of them. Just what were Philip II’s strategies, and how did his reign affect English/French relationships as a whole? These questions are answered in Catherine Hanley’s book, “Nemesis: Medieval England’s Greatest Enemy.”
One would assume that, since England is an island nation, its navy has been its strength since its foundation. That, however, was not always the case. While there were naval battles during the Middle Ages, it was not a navy like we know today. The concept of the Royal Navy was founded during the time of the Tudors, especially under the reign of Henry VIII. So, how did Henry VIII turn a navy from 7 ships to over fifty ships that could stand with other European navies? Geoffrey Moorhouse examines the creation of the English navy in his book, “Great Harry’s Navy: How Henry VIII Gave England Sea Power.”
Sixteenth-century England was a time of great change. There were religious changes as the crown passed from one member of the Tudor family to another. Wars and illnesses like the plague and the sweating sickness were rampant. However, this was also a time of an explosion of the arts, particularly of the theatre. We see men like William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson rise from obscurity to write plays that would propel them to become phenomena. There was a third playwright who should be included in this list. He was the son of a cobbler who was educated at Cambridge University. A brilliant man who wrote groundbreaking plays while he was a spy for her majesty Queen Elizabeth I, his cause of death when he was only in his twenties would remain a mystery for centuries. Christopher (Kit) Marlowe’s story is told in Stephen Greenblatt’s latest book, “Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival.”
Marrying into the royal family is not all sunshine and rainbows. Of course, we tend to think about those who marry the king, the queen, the prince, or the princess. But we also need to consider the aunts and the uncles of the royals as part of the family. Take, for example, Arthur Plantagenet, the illegitimate son of Edward IV and the uncle of Henry VIII. His second wife, Honor Lisle, would help him rule Calais; however, she is best known for her letters and her devout Catholic faith during the Reformation in England. So why is Honor Lisle considered a controversial figure, and what was the cause of the fall of Honor and Arthur from the royal good graces? Amy Licence explores the life of Henry VIII’s step-aunt in the first full biography dedicated to Honor Lisle, which is entitled “Henry VIII’s Controversial Aunt, Honor Lisle: Her Life, Letters, and Influence on the Tudor Court.”
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 