A Light of Her Own

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." (Pablo Picasso)

Haarlem, Holland in February of 1633 is wrapped in the frigidity of brisk winds and icy streets. Judith Leyster peers on tiptoe through the smudged window of the rowdy tavern. She can hardly bend her frozen fingers, but she knows that she will readily feel the weight of a few coins in her outstretched hand. Judith waits anxiously for Lachine, a shady Frenchman, who has promised to sell one of her paintings to a patron. No Lachine. No coins.

Judith heads back to the workshop of Frans de Grebber. Frans is an art master who has apprenticed the twenty-three year old since she was thirteen. Judith and her younger brother, Abraham, have been on their own since their parents left the city banished with heavy debt. Judith shares a tiny room with Frans' daughter, Maria, a fellow artist. Both young women experience the solid walls of rejection for females who pursue the arts during this time period. Opportunities are few.

Judith's giftedness is stoked with the flames of persistence. It is this internal fire that eventually lights the way for Judith to become a member of the St. Luke Artists' Guild and later she reaches the level of master status. But none of this comes easily.

Carrie Callaghan presents a story rich in detail of the lives of two female artists living in a profession dominated by men. Haarlem provides an environment of ruthlessness and cunning as we will experience throughout these pages. Callaghan has quite the talent for imbuing her storyline with the sounds, the cadence, and the muddied surroundings of the city's crowded streets. Her characters shift back and forth from the lowliness of street dwellers to the loftiness of master artists. We feel the renowned presence of Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Verneer.

A Light of Her Own has the flavor of Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. But Carrie Callaghan creates a grittier atmosphere for Judith and Maria. I was delighted to find that a self-portrait of Judith Leyster can be found in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. Although a debut novel for Callaghan, the richness of the prose will certainly link her to even greater experiences in the future.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Amberjack Publishing and to Carrie Callaghan for the opportunity.

I love historical fiction about art and artists, and A Light of Her Own was about Judith Leyster, a painter from the Netherlands I didn't know much about. The story held my interest and gave lots of details about the culture of the Netherlands at the time, and how the guild system worked.

Judith Leyster pioneered the female lead into the male dominated art world of the seventeenth century. As the child of irresponsible, absent parents and the older sister of a wayward, misguided younger brother, her daily life was often challenging on several fronts. In her favor were the facts that she was a talented artist and that she was able to secure an apprenticeship in a respectable workshop. Her independent spirit and commitment to her work enabled her to surmount the sometimes overwhelming obstacles to her success.
Carrie Callaghan ably and interestingly brings Judith's story to life, taking us inside the coup of established artists who attempted to shut out the work product of younger talent.
Although set in the 1600's, Ms. Callaghan's characters reveal unmistakable parallels with people form all walks of life, across time and distance.
The story introduces us to a relatively unknown artist and makes her very much like the rest of us in many respects.
Thanks to Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for the opportunity to read and review A Light of Her Own.

This book is about Judith Leyster, a Dutch painter about whom I had not heard previously. I really enjoyed it, the book was full of rich and evocative language and the streets and guilds of the Netherlands were richly brought to life.
I would recommend it to any fan of historical fiction,

While I enjoy biographical fiction with well-known figures, I'm also drawn to portraits of lesser-known women, especially when written as artfully as Carrie Callaghan has done with Judith Leyster, a Dutch painter who hasn't always been given her full due, her work often credited to others. Vividly rendered, Judith's story is one of loyalty, independence, and finding her place in a world dominated by male artists like Rembrandt and Molenaer. Throughout, Judith has an unrelenting focus and often grapples with ambition, influencing both her undoing and her redemption. I feel fortunate to have met Judith Leyster through Carrie Callaghan’s well-crafted words.

Judith Leyster (1609-1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. She was one of the first two women to be admitted to the prestigious Haarlem artist’s guild as it is not clear who was the first woman. “She was the only woman who attained master status and operated her own workshop in the city at that time. (…) The limited contemporary documentation on her life makes it difficult to know much about her training and career.”

“Judith likely studied in Frans de Grebber’s workshop – quite possibly because he had a daughter a few years older who also painted.” Therefore, the author invented the friendship between Judith and Maria.

The story starts with Judith being apprenticed at Frans de Grebber, where she is best friends with his daughter Maria. At 24, she dreams about having her own workshop, working on her own commissions, but she cannot do this unless she is a member of the guild. She applies to be admitted to the artist’s guild as she dreams of being an accomplished artist. Her ambition leads her to gaining the title of the master, which allows her to host apprentices in her own studio, which is a potential source of income.

On the other hand, Maria under her father’s wing could have had an easier path to becoming an accomplished artist. But her heart is not in painting, but in devotion to God.

I was confused about Maria’s story. I understand the point of her devotion in a country where the faith is banned to reflect religious situation of the time period. But this didn’t enrich the story, rather made it confusing. The pages given to Maria in this book should have been used solely on Judith’s story.

Judith’s story in this book concentrates on her struggle of attaining the title and having her own workshop as a woman in a world controlled by men. Through her struggle, the author skillfully presents the rules of the Guild. Only in the epilogue, it is mentioned her marriage to Jan Miense Molenaer, an artist himself and their five children. This in any way does not undermine the story. The concentration of the story on the struggle was an excellent approach.

Judith Leyster was a Dutch Golden Age painter who painted genre works, portraits, and still lifes. Callaghan gives us a story of rich, historical detail as evidenced by ruthless research for her subject, time period, and life of a woman who is often overlooked as a prominent Dutch Golden Age painter. The novel chronicles Judith life as she attempts to find her place in a male-dominated world. This vivid novel also comments beautifully on the power of art and the power of friendship something that many adult readers can appreciate.

In 1633 any woman with ambition was fighting a losing battle. Never mind ambition women did not seem to hold any position other than being daughters or wives and if neither worked it was a terrible life for any of them

For Judith abandoned by her father and mother through circumstances of debt, her brother who was her only family now getting involved in shady activities, Judith with her ambition of being an artist and becoming a member of the Guild had ambitions far beyond the usual woman of the time. With hardly any money to set herself up, she was nevertheless determined to do so.

The story of Judith's endeavours despite immense hardship, obstacles and sheer pig headedness of men around her was a tough read. It is factually true according to the author in several instances and an artist of this name did live and have her own workshop in Holland at the time. The story was intense and Judith was blessed with common sense and a sense of diplomacy to know when it was enough.

Judith upto now lived with a master guildsman and his daughter both artists in their own right but Maria had problems of her own. She would have been treated accordingly today but no one knew of her mental suffering and torment she underwent. Judith had to balance her life between being a friend to Maria and her ambition about her art on the other. It did not always balance evenly.

I was so excited to get a chance to read this book about a female painter whose work I have always loved! Judith Leyster is, in my opinion, far underrated. her paintings may not have the technical perfection of some of her contemporaries, but they are so lively! I was pleasantly surprised that her character in this book reflected the image I already had of her in my mind. If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend A Light of Her Own!

I am not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I was fascinated with Carrie Callaghan's debut novel. Beautifully written and compelling from the first page until the end. What a talented writer!

In 1633 Judith Leyster was admitted to the Haarlem Guild. The first and only female to attain this status. Judith Leyster is known to be the greatest female painter in history.
Even with small accounts of Judith Leyster’s life in existence the author has created a beautiful story around this outstanding female artist. The book reveals the struggles and obstacles faced by Judith as a woman of this time trying to pursue a career, to have her own apprentices and to be able to sell her paintings. The Guild to which she attained recognition was the controlling body for artists. Being admitted to the Guild would give an artist status, although there was still a pecking order depending on fame and those fameless would still struggle to make a living. Judith has a strong and fearless personality and seems to have boundless energy. She has a close friend Maria that as a teenage apprentice she shares a room with. Maria is the daughter of her employer and the complete opposite to that of Judith. The times are of the strong Protestant Church with those of the Roman Catholic Church having to hide their worship practices. Maria is a strong Catholic, Judith seems to be a non believer and while she doesn’t understand Maria’s religious obsessions she shows empathy to her friend who is a close to her as a sister. Judith’s family has left town owing money leaving one of their children behind, a son, Abraham who appears to live his life similar to his parents. The author has written parallel stories, the main one of Judith but the other one of Maria who has her own complex issues and through fate has her own misadventure. The descriptions of the environment and the towns with window boxes of flowers give the story added colour whilst the descriptions of everyday life and struggles, the polluted waters of the waterways and canals remind the reader that this was also a time of high infant deaths and when death through even minor sickness due to lack of hygiene and primitive medical practices was just around the corner.

4.5 stars! This refreshing book gave me a good deal to think about while keeping me turning pages. The stars of the book are Judith and Maria, though there are a number of other well known painters making cameo appearances (and that’s always fun).

Imagine this: Judith Leyster, woman painter in Haarlem, was actually admitted to the city’s art guild in 1635. What hardships did she have in pursuing her work, and do they compare to the hardships that professional women face today? In what ways does she pay for her desire to be treated equally? Calaghan’s debut novel made me think through my own professional career over the last twenty plus years. Judith fought each inch of the way to live by her brush; this still rings true today.

Also, her relationships with family and friends, such as that with Maria, don’t actually make her efforts easier. For example, though Judith and Maria basically grew up together, they’ve grown apart and don’t know how to find their way back to their friendship. Basically that desire, though there for both, takes a lower place to the other desires of their hearts, as our friendships so often do. I enjoyed watching the ebb and flow of this friendship to its conclusion in the book. Maria was the harder of the two characters to relate to (for me), due to her crushing guilt over everything-everything, but she felt very true, historically speaking, and I enjoyed rooting for her to stand tall and shed the guilt cloak.

Now what was different for me about this book (that I really enjoyed) is that—though there was a love interest or two—that was certainly not the point of the novel. The focal point is truly about two women trying to live (or find) their dreams in a man’s word. Also the world and art came alive with the descriptions. Great job, Carrie! Highly recommend.

Fantastic! Well r searched and fully immersive! See full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2480678016

* I would like to thank the Author, the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me generously with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
A Light of Her Own is a most beautiful novel about a Dutch artist, Judith Leyster, who lived in the 17th century and was probably the first female painter to have been admitted to the Guild. The novel is absolutely amazing for several reasons. To begin with, while reading I could visualize paintings in the style of the Dutch school, sometimes two or three sentences, sometimes a paragraph prompted descriptions of beautiful scenes of everyday life in street market or indoors, with most important aspect: the light and the colours. Another reason for my liking this novel massively was the detailed desrciption of a life of a painter in the town of Haarlem, problems, techniques, customs and traditions and religious dilemmas. Carrie Callagham did a thorough research into Dutch Masters and the novels takes us as close to them and times as possible. And one other thing, the background: the houses, clothes, hairstyles, food - they are perfectly presented by the Author. Reading A Light of Her Own was like looking at the paintings which could have been created by Dutch artists of the 17th century.
The novel was an amazing surprise for me as I have been interested in the Dutch Masters for some years now and it complemeted my interests perfectly.
A highly recommendable read!

I am Dutch born and so happy to find a book about Dutch history, in particular about women painters in the Dutch guilded age. We know about Rembrandt, we know about Vermeer, but what about painters like Judith? The author did a great job showing a different side to the world of Dutch art, highly recommend.

Amazingly detailed story that will have readers staring at the world as a fine painter would. A woman driven to pursue art during a time and a place where she was not wanted. She was undeterred. The author paints a main character who is ambitious, strong, flawed, and believable. A second point-of-view character embarks on a journey with a shocking twist. With a satisfying ending, readers will be happy for having spent time with the book and this pioneering female painter.