Name: A Light of Her Own
ISBN: 9781944995904

Carrie Callaghan

Holland, 1633. Judith Leyster is a painter, dodging the law and whispers of murder in hopes of becoming the first woman admitted to the prestigious Haarlem artist's guild. Maria is a Catholic in a country where the faith is banned, hoping to absolve her sins by recovering a lost saint's relic. Both women's destinies will be shaped by their ambitions, running counter to the city's most powerful men, whose own plans spell disaster. A vivid portrait of a remarkable artist, a story of grit against the backdrop of Rembrandts and repressive religious rule.

A Light of Her Own

erin s

In A Light of Her Own, two women painters (paintresses?) in the 17th century Dutch Golden Age grapple with their place in society and their own shortcomings. Both main characters — Judith Leyster and Maria de Grebber — are real historical figures, and I appreciated how this novel alerted me of these two overlooked women. 

The passages describing the act of painting were my favorite parts of this story. I didn’t care much for any of the characters, and felt too anxious about the miscommunication, deceit, misfortunes, debts, and mistakes of Judith, Maria, their families, and the surrounding cast of the Haarlem painter’s guild to feel very secure in the plot. The added religious themes in Maria’s chapters felt detached from Judith’s chapters, particularly due to Judith’s relative nonchalance to faith. If she had been a fervent Protestant, that may have countered Maria’s unwavering yet mostly hidden Catholicism (Protestant Holland, y’all). 

Overall, this was not a poorly composed novel, just one that didn’t grab me. There were a few too many plot threads that were not fully fleshed out, and I found myself wanting more of some content (painting!) and less of others (lepers in the third act?). Though I did appreciate the research and imagination that Carrie Callaghan put into this, constructing a fictional life around just a few known details. 

[2.5/5: A niche work of historical fiction that covers Dutch painting politics of the 1630s (for once, not tulips!). Centers women’s artistic labor in a man’s realm. Readers who want to know more about female artists throughout history may find some interest in this, along with anyone who really loves Rembrandt and all those Dutch dudes. It doesn’t linger as much on the art itself as some art-themed historical fiction, but has some interesting insight on the time period and the gender disparity in early modern northern Europe.)

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Light of Her Own

Reviews

Highlights