This was so beautifully written, the words bore so many emotions and usually i don't really pick up on the underlying feels, but this time i did.
it goes to show that Susanne Dunlap is amazing at what she does, because i read a book about a painter i had never heard of before, felt really connected to her and her struggles and somehow didn't get bored halfway. thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this.

A wonderful look at a woman artist’s life in the 18th century, and more interesting than a novel of Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun would have been. Adelaide Labille-Guiard was a real woman who struggled, loved, and lived, and this story brings her back to life.

A moving story about the difficulties faced by a female artist, Adelaide, in Paris in the eighteenth century, in the time of Marie Antoinette. Of course the novel does not just focus on the artist and her issues, but they are a key part of the story. Lots of historical research is evident in the book, the author knows the period well, but her research is woven well into the story.
This author is a favourite of mine, I have read many of her books, and based on the ones that I have read, she has a very high standard of writing. I particularly loved Emilie's Voice, but this novel is not far behind on my list of favourites. I would certainly recommend this novel and would give it more than five stars if I could, but alas I am limited to five.

I love fiction based in fact, books that educate as well as entertain - especially when enjoyment
is the main criterion, as it is here. I couldn’t put ‘The Portraitist’ down for longer than it took me to google Adelaide Labille-Guiard and admire her self portrait, vividly described in the book and currently on display at The Metropolitan Museum in New York. If you enjoyed ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ you will love ‘The Portraitist’, I did.

This was such a wonderfully done story, I appreciated getting to learn about someone so interesting in history through fictional novels. Adélaïe Labille-Guiard is someone I had to look up and I enjoyed learning about her. On to the book, it was a really well done historical novel and it was beautifully done. I enjoyed getting to know Adelaie and the other characters in this world. I enjoyed the romance aspects in the book and was sad when I finished this book.

"The night she began her project, Adélaïde laid out the pastels, sliced the right sized piece of paper from the roll, fixed it to backing, and tacked it to the easel. Once everything was prepared and the mirror placed just right, she stripped off all her clothes. One unexpected benefit of using her own body as a model was that she didn’t have to worry about making someone else, some young girl who might not understand all that it implied, pose in a way that would cause her embarrassment."