Fiction - Rembrandt

I thought this book was quite enjoyable. It was super intriguing, and the history in it was fascinating. I simply found that it lacked that spark that makes a book great.
Although I wanted to know what happened, and for the most part it was interesting, at times I found I was a bit bored.

PLOT

The plot in this was really interesting. It was, as the title suggests, about Rembrandt's daughter, and she's been left to take care of her father all on her own.
They're broke, and Rembrandt, once a great painter, is now scorned by society. There's quite a bit going on, and there's some interesting plot twists, that never even crossed my mind.

Mostly though, this book was about the romance. Romances... aren't usually my thing. Not to mention there was A LOVE TRIANGLE! Love triangles... also not my thing.

However, the love triangle was actually quite well done.
At first I completely shipped her and Carel... I wasn't too impressed with Neel. As the book went on though, Neel started to grow on me. And Carel... well, he was actually something of a jerk.
It was also one of the few love triangles I've read where I couldn't predict the outcome from the start... at first I really thought she would end up with Carel... he just seemed like he was the obvious winner. Then she didn't. So that was sort of satisfying.

SETTING

This was set in the Netherlands, in the... seventeen hundreds? Maybe? Something like that anyways.
It isn't a place I've read much about, so it was super interesting. I'm glad I read it just for the history alone. It was just fascinating!

The setting felt really real as well. It had obviously been well researched, and it just felt so vivid.
Basically, I was impressed.

CHARACTERS

The characters were... I don't know. I liked them well enough, but none of them felt particularly well developed. I already addressed her love interests in the spoiler tag, and there really isn't anything else I feel I can say without spoilers, so I'm just going to completely not address them here. Other than that though...

-Cornelia... she was... I don't know. I had moments where I really liked her, but she wasn't very well developed, and felt like cardboard a lot of the time.

-Rembrandt was probably the best developed character. He actually had a really rich character, and although he wasn't very nice, I liked reading about him, because... he NEVER felt like cardboard.

-Titus was sort of half developed... he was a fairly small character, and he was okay-ly (Tis is definitely a word... Don't question me on this...) developed for the amount he was in it, but I would have loved if he was a bit more developed.

There was couple other characters I could address, but I think the risk of spoilers is just too big, and they don't seem important enough to bother with spoiler tags, so...

OVER ALL

I enjoyed this book well enough, the history was really interesting, and I think it was definitely worth reading. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to everyone, but I think it's worth a read if it's your sort of thing. ( )

My thoughts on I am Rembrandt's Daughter

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1051588.I_am_Rembrandt_s_Daughter ( )

Recommended for those who appreciate the art of the Dutch Masters.
Written from the perspective of Cornelia, the illegitimate daughter of Rembrandt van Rijn, this excellent depiction of Rembrandt in his later years is a haunting tale of a man, once at the height of fame, who has lost his sanity, his standing in society and is bankrupt.

Difficult to put down, I found this book fascinatingly filled with wonderful tidbits of accurate facts and marvelous portrayals of real life characters that seem to jump from the pages.

When Cornelia's mother dies of the plague and her beloved half brother marries a wealthy woman, Cornelia is left to watch her father's steady decline.

Using the later works of Rembrandt as a springboard for the storyline, each chapter is a delight to read. ( )

Cornelia van Rijn's is the illegitimate daughter of the famed painter Rembrandt. Her life is not an easy one - her father claims to hear the voice of God, her mother dies of the plague and the family is so poor Cornelia must work like a common kitchen maid in her own home rather than lead the social life of a lady entitled to her father's respected position. Cullen's writing is historically accurate - Rembrandt's fall from society's graces due to an affair with a maid, his "rough" painting techniques, even the story's characters are real documented people - yet the book doesn't read like a dry history novel. Instead, Cullen cleverly uses this rich history as a backdrop for a love story crafted from her own imagination. Rich in historical detail, yet simple enough to still be enjoyable, I Am Rembrandt's Daughter is built on a solid foundation of historical facts and real people, resulting in a love story that "might have been". (Ages 13 & up) ( )