Blood Water Paint

For such a short book, "Blood Water Paint" was a beautiful, powerful and devastating read. Written in free verse, it followed the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, a 17th century Italian artist. Her story was horrific and it broke my heart at what she had to endure in a patriarchal society where women did not have a voice. However, it was also inspirational and I admired Artemisia's convictions and strength of character. I also loved the writing. It was evocative, painful and moving.

After finishing "Blood Water Paint", I was inspired to learn more about Artemisia and her artwork, and realised I had studied a number of her paintings at university.

“I wish men would decide if women are heavenly angels on high, or earthbound sculptures for their gardens.”

Wow. This book was so heavy and powerful and important. Blood Water Paint is a historical novel told in verse following the life of 17th century painter, Artemisia Gentileschi, from the loss of her mother at an early age to her rape and the trial that followed. Blood Water Paint is a moving story about women and power and resolve and it can’t be praised enough.

Things I Liked
This was so character driven in the best possible way. I feel like novels told in verse are incredibly internal and that worked so beautifully here. I felt Artemisia’s fear, frustration, and drive. She was real, so I connected with her on a personal show more level and her story affected me on a personal level.

This entire story was a commentary on rape culture, agency, and power and I love how it was handled. Dissecting who’s believed, who’s valued, who’s punished through her art and her personal life was so raw and parallelled both beautifully and tragically.

Along with the heavier topics, I loved that the story highlighted the importance of female solidarity and having allies who will believe and support you. I loved seeing Artemisia beginning to explore her own beauty and being a painter and defying societal expectations. We see her her incredible bravery, even in the face of public shaming and hatred.

Quotes

“My back aches not only from the weight of the child I bare, but from all I must carry as a woman.”
“But that’s the thing about perspective. The slightest shift transforms the subject.”

Things I Didn’t Like
I don’t know if it was because this story is so heavy or if it was that blended with the historical period, but I felt like the story was a little long. It didn’t drag and nothing felt like filler, but the story did feel long.

Blood Water Paint was a brilliant debut novel that explores and celebrates the bravery of a 17th painter who was not believed or valued because she was a woman, and is finally given her own voice. This was just a really important story and I’m so happy to have read it.

I received a copy of the book from Dutton BFYR via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. show less

This was so well done. The writing was so intense and made it hard for me to breathe at times because the pain and anger Artemisia felt were so visceral.

This book sat in my stack a long time as I wondered, aughhh, do I feel like reading a poetry novel now?! Wish I hadn't waited so long. It's an emotionally searing and passionate story of artist Artemisia Gentileschi when she was about 16 and toiling as the unrecognized (and more talented) assistant to her painter father. Artemisia is portrayed as strong-willed and devoted to her craft, but aware of the social boundaries that constrain her. Her father hires an artist to advise Artemisia on technique and a flirtacious attraction develops between the two. But Tino rapes her and Artemisia must draw on every reserve of strength to uphold her truth and dignity as a woman in the 17th century. She is sustained by stories her late mother raised show more her on about strong women who persevered through social injustices. show less

Tells in a mix of free verse and prose the story of Artemesia Gentileschi, a teenage girl living in Rome in the 1600s and learning to paint from her father, who exploits her talents for his own benefit. Artemsia lives in a world which was made for and revolves around men, and where nearly every situation holds some sort of danger for women. She learns the horribly real truth of this when another painter comes into her father's studio and invades her life. She learns how a woman must negotiate such a life through remembered stories her mother told her before she died, of brave women who stood up for themselves and others.
This one is powerfully told and beautifully written, and treats a difficult subject boldly, balancing harsh truths show more with a wonderful talent for storytelling. McCullough does a great job of interweaving the mother's stories perfectly with Artemisia's own tale, so that each informs and lifts up the other. Highly recommended. show less

I very rarely read novels in verse; I'm not a huge poetry fan in general. But I've know about Artemisia for a while, and have really admired her paintings (which is also rare for me!), and was excited to read about her, so I ignored the the fact that it wasn't entirely prose.

But the verse, the writing, is beautiful. Artemisia comes across as fully realized and developed, aware of and adhering to the constraints of her gender while still being fiercely independent and knowing how lucky she was.

The stories that her mother told her before she died, incredibly feminist and nuanced portraits of Biblical heroines, are very engaging and explanatory (I don't know the Bible at all but able to follow along well enough) without slowing the pace of show more the story. It makes perfect sense that Artemisia would, when needing female support, turn to the women her mother admired and told stories about. To even be a women in that time period was tough, let alone a women who accused a respected man of anything.

McCullough's writing is never intrusive or confusing, but confident and full of determination. She truly understood the character of Artemisia, and sympathized with her, and made a great novel. I actually went and found out what happened to Artemisia after the events of the novel, which is an incredible achievement for a historical fiction book! show less

YA. This book is a gem. Based on a real young woman, Artemisia Gentileschi who lived in Rome in the 17th century, the story is told in verse from Artemisia's point of view, interspersed with prose narrative centered on two biblical heroines, Judith and Susanna told by Artemisia's dead mother. Artemisia is an artist, mostly beholden and in the employ of her father who is gruff and exploitative, but not abusive. He is a sub-par painter and passes her work off as his own, gaining commissions for churches and other rich and powerful entities. The biblical stories work because they are scenes Artemisia paints. They also parallel her own experience. Her father arranges for her to receive instruction from the rich, talented, powerful and show more connected Agostino Tassi. He is handsome, smooth, and a treacherous in that he takes advantage of her innocence, leads her on, and ultimately ruins her. How Artemisia fights back and regains her power and her talent is brutal but inspiring. Excellent research on history, art, religion and how they all intersected, plus the role of women and girls at the time is fascinating and beautifully conveyed. Excellent writing made this a worthwhile read that will stick with me for quite a while. show less