Even though I'm Dutch and grew up on the Old Masters, I knew next to nothing about Maria van Oosterwijck. And so, I read this book as fiction, without fact checking, just enjoying the play.
As such, I Am You is a stunner read, exceptionally well written, poetry in motion.
I loved everything about it, good, bad and ugly. Two women in a men's world in artistic Amsterdam, the constant powerplay mixed with nature's beauty, all brought to the perfect finale. What a story!

Thank you Netgalley and Firefinch Publishing for the ARC.

This transported me back into the world of the Dutch Renaissance, bringing to life the stories of the painters behind the flowers we know so well.

A vivid portrait of the time, with explorations of gender fluidity, sapphic love and power dynamics. I enjoyed being transported into Gerta/Pieter and Maria’s world, and the nuances of the time.

As an art lover, I thoroughly enjoyed how rooted this is in the history we know, being able to look up the paintings that the characters have worked on, some of which I have seen in person many years before.

In this novel Redel transports us to 17th century Amsterdam, to the fineries and vulgarities of life. We meet the noble classes and their servants.

We follow the life of an 8 year old girl Gerta who is sent to work for a genteel family disguised as a boy to increase her chances of work. All the while she is observed by the employer’s daughter Maria, who constantly sketches her at work and at rest. When Gerta can no longer disguise her true sex, the family accept her as a girl maidservant to Maria, and Maria later takes her away to assist her when she decides to study art under a famous painter.

Gerta is a quick learner and soon secretly perfects the art of grinding and mixing paints for her mistress, which become highly envied, though Maria claims they are made by her own fair hand.

Some time later Gerta also dares to paint, and a friendly but competitive relationship builds between the two. However equal the standard of their work, Maria alone will get the commissions and receive the praise- as who would believe a lowly servant could achieve such skill and produce such beauty?

The process of painting is beautifully described, and we get a feel for the teamwork with the two women working side-by-side, appraising and criticising each other’s work. But more than just this, the novel is about the personal relationship between the two women.

This is a fascinating and highly researched work of literature that reads extremely well, we can picture and almost smell the streets of Amsterdam, the dangerous port, the bustling market scenes, and even the English Royal Court. The balance of power between the two women is breathtakingly explored, and to witness the journey of a woman from lowly beginnings to fame in the most noble circles is truly engrossing and even more so because it is based on fact.

I don’t normally choose historical novels but this was a wonderful discovery.