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Good but not great. I can both see why this made the women's prize long list and why it didn't make the short list. Similar to Wifedom I thought there was too much of the author in this book. The time she is choosing to talk about is fascinating and it didn't need personal story embellishments. I feel like authors do this when they cannot find enough source material. The book itself is gorgeous, and I did learn a lot so it is still a pick!

"I cannot get enough Dutch art. You can turn to this other world - and it is a picture world as no other, a whole society visualized through time and place, seasons and generations, moment by moment - and live inside it in your thoughts."

The painting that starts the book.

"We see pictures in time and place. We cannot see them otherwise. They are fragments of our lives, moments of existence that may be as unremarkable as rain or as startling as a clap of thunder."

#readingbracket2024 #April

#popsugar24 #traveldestinationobucketlist (Amsterdam/Delft)
#52bookclub24 #plotsimilartoanotherbook (using The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt as the other one, as they both feature explosions, and The Goldfinch painting by Carel Fabritius)
#aty24 #soundrelatedwordintitle

@BarbaraBB @Kristy_K @LaraReads @KarenUK @Hooked_on_books @BarkingMadRead @brittanyreads @Magpiegem @BookBelle84 @Larkken @julesG @Deblovestoread @MidnightBookListener @Librarybelle

A book of twos; one part is about the The Golden Age of Dutch art focusing mainly on Delft. And I‘ve been to Delft and I love art so I loved this part. Who knew Dutch Art where so available to its citizens and not something for just the royals and nobility? The other part is about her and her parents. Her father was an artist. I found this part interesting. I loved how she used her own experiences to explain the Dutch artists.

Had to google this painting as it isn't printed in the book, and the description fascinated me. Memorial portrait made by siblings Gerard and Gesina Ter Borch after the death of their youngest brother, Moses who fell in battle against the English. Look at that hair! The pose! The pieces of his armour! The time pieces! The snake! The random skull and puppy and huge conch shell. ❤️💔

This was the masterpiece that drew Marcel Proust out of his cork-lined room in Paris for the last time. He had seen it once before, in a visit to The Hague in 1902. It was to him ‘the most beautiful painting in the world‘. Almost twenty years later, suffering from lung disease, he made a shorter but more arduous pilgrimage from his apartment in boulevard Malesherbes, near the Madeleine, across four streets to the Jeu de Paume,

The spoils of today‘s bookshop visit!

This is a book that shouldn‘t work. It meanders all over the place and trying to write an outline for it would be an exercise in futility. Yet, somehow, these musings on (mainly) Dutch art, primarily that of Carel Fabritius, the author‘s painter father, artists lives and her own life comes together as a pretty magical read. The illustrations are great, but there was still plenty I was googling. Completely fascinating.

This was beautifully told. I loved listening to the author tell of Dutch paintings & artists, Fabritius & her father‘s paintings - you can tell it‘s something she‘s knowledgeable & passionate about. I listened on Spotify which came with a pdf of all the paintings she discusses but I always listen when I‘m on the go so couldn‘t keep track of which paintings she was discussing. As much as I liked the audio I‘d recommend going print or mix the two.

This #womensprize for NF long-lister is still a pick, but I chose the wrong format (audio).The author describes so many paintings and I wanted to see them - not the best idea when you listen whilst driving, as I mostly do. 😬

Even when I was at home, as all of the artists are Dutch, I couldn‘t find many of them as I didn‘t know how to spell their names. I‘ve reserved the (digital) print copy so I can re-read but it‘s not available until ⬇️