Blood water paint

3.5 stars

When I heard there was a novel being published about Artemisia Gentileschi, I was over the moon. When I saw the beautiful cover art and saw its high ratings, I was even more excited. But somehow I never realized that it was a verse novel, so when I opened the book and started flipping through the pages...I was disappointed.

I love poetry, and I love novels, but verse novels aren't for me and won't ever be. But I'm glad I read this one anyway. The story itself is powerful (though this book only focuses on a short period of Gentileschi's life), and I like McCullough's characterization of Artemisia, her mother, the other supporting characters. And I love the intertwining of Susannah and Judith's stories. One of the themes of the book is the way that other women's stories can give us strength to live our own, which is always a lovely sentiment. There's enough here that I appreciate. I can't say that most of the poems really work on their own as poems, and I still wish that it were written in prose, but taking it on its own terms, it's well done. And as such a short read, it's worth it.