“I loved it in a way that is no doubt different than other books I have loved. The period and touches on time, sexual politics, art, history, class, women’s rights and the significance of Amsterdam and all the details the author shares of this particularly rich period kept me thoroughly engaged and is a brilliant backdrop to Gerta and Maria’s story.”
- Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit
“Myself, a constant transformation—girl child to boy servant to budding girl, maid to painter to lover, every shift managed for a purpose. For Maria. For our future.”
An unforgettable love story about sex, art, and politics in 1600s Amsterdam.
ISBN
9781638932062
Language
English
Edition
Hardcover
Sale date
September 30, 2025
Dimensions
6 x 9
About the Book
At age eight, Gerta Pieters is dressed as a boy and put to work in the service of the Oosterwijcks, a genteel Dutch family. When Gerta catches the eye of the young Maria Oosterwijck, Gerta’s asked to accompany her to Amsterdam, where Maria will study under a noteworthy Dutch artist.
In Amsterdam, Maria rises in the ranks of society as a prodigy of still life painting. From the shadows, Gerta watches her ascension and learns to make herself invaluable to Maria in more ways than one. As their relationship evolves, Gerta may come to be more intrinsic to Maria’s personal life—and her art—than even she could have imagined.
Inspired by the little that is known about skilled still life painter Maria van Oosterwijck’s life, I Am You is a love story, a meditation on gender, and an ode to artistic creation. Victoria Redel’s novel brings to life the copious spoils of Amsterdam’s Golden Age, and the perils that lay hidden within them for women like Maria and Gerta.