Midnight Blue
Book description
From Simone Van Der Vlugt comes her European bestselling novel of a young woman's rise as a painter in Holland's Golden Age—perfect for readers of The Miniaturist, Tulip Fever, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Amsterdam 1654: against the backdrop of Holland's Golden Age, a dangerous secret threatens to destroy…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Midnight Blue as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In seventeenth-century Holland, Catrin is an artist who is instrumental in the founding of Delft pottery.
Rembrandt appears as someone who recognizes Catrin’s artistic talent, and Vermeer is also a minor character, though he is usually just referred to as Johannes. It was a lot of fun when I first realized who this Johannes was!
Through Catrin’s challenges, Van der Vlugt also explores the challenges that women faced at the time, including domestic violence and the difficulty of entering the art world.
From Rebecca's list on 17th-century women.
This is a lovely book about the origins of Delft Blue ceramics, and the role of a woman painter in creating it.
Simone van der Vlugt is herself Dutch, and the book has a wonderful atmospheric feeling that puts the reader into the world of 17th-century Netherlands. Like other books on this list, it explores a woman’s role in the art world, but it moves away from painting into the realm of pottery and commerce, as Delft Blue develops to compete with Chinese porcelain coming into Europe at the time.
Plague plays a major role in the book, too, for…
From Jeannie's list on historical fiction about art and the artists behind it.
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