Thursday, August 2, 2018

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough is an extremely powerful novel that is told in a unique way.  It is the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, a talented painter of the 1600s, told both in verse and in prose.  This novel tells the real life story of Artemisia and her bravery and courage in the face of a society who finds little value in women, especially a woman who is just 17 years old.

When her mom died, Artemisia Gentileschi was faced with the choice of becoming a nun or helping her father with his aspiring career as a painter.  She chose to paint and became one of the greatest painters in all of Rome.  Her father took all the credit for her paintings and she was just a shadow in the background.  But when she is raped by a man who was brought in to help her painting, she is given another choice.  She can remain silent or she can speak out against her attacker.  But in a society where women have no real voice, is it worth the punishment she will face if she is thought to be lying?  In this astounding book, McCullough and Artemisia help to remind us, and women especially, to use your voice and never be afraid to "paint the blood."

From Amazon:

"When I finished this novel, I knew I would be haunted and empowered by Artemisia Gentileschi's story for the rest of my life."—Amanda Lovelace, bestselling author of the princess saves herself in this one

Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint.

She chose paint.

By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome's most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost.

He will not consume
my every thought.
I am a painter.
I will paint.

Joy McCullough's bold novel in verse is a portrait of an artist as a young woman, filled with the soaring highs of creative inspiration and the devastating setbacks of a system built to break her. McCullough weaves Artemisia's heartbreaking story with the stories of the ancient heroines, Susanna and Judith, who become not only the subjects of two of Artemisia's most famous paintings but sources of strength as she battles to paint a woman's timeless truth in the face of unspeakable and all-too-familiar violence.

I will show you
what a woman can do.

★"A captivating and impressive debut about a timeless heroine."—Booklist, starred review
★"Belongs on every YA shelf."—SLJ, starred review
★"A haunting, stirring depiction of an unforgettable woman."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★"Luminous."—Shelf Awareness, starred review

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