Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

McCullough, Joy. 2018. BLOOD WATER PAINT. New York: Dutton Books. ISBN 9780735232136

McCullough, Joy. 2018. BLOOD WATER PAINT. (X. Sands, Narr.) [Unabridged Audiobook]. Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/Blood-Water-Paint-Audiobook/B07CTYB3TL?action_co
de=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShare (Orginial work published 2018.)

PLOT SUMMARY

Artemisia Gentileschi is a seventeen-year-old painter from the seventeenth century. Based on the true story of her life. She spends most of her time grinding up pigment for paint since her mother's death and paints for her father. Her father takes credit for all of her paintings. She thinks life will turn around for her when her dad hires a tutor, a famous painter named Agostino Tassi, to help her grow as an artist. She begins to grow feelings for him until he rapes her. In a time when women did not speak up, she decided to take a stand and push the issue with her father who finally decided to press charges against him for rape. She is put through public torture but eventually wins her case.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

It took a bit for me to get into this book because of what I felt like flipping back and forth and couldn’t figure out what was going on. McCullough writes from the point of view of Artemisia, but then also flips to when her mother was alive and tells her stories from the bible where she highlighted the story of Susanna being trapped by two elders who demanded sex from her. Artemisia’s mother makes sure to point out that Susanna will not be pushed into a corner and speaks out for her truth and will not stay silent. After getting into the book more, this relationship made sense to me because it is what helped drive Artemisia to speak up about her rape and to be willing to go through the public humiliation of the court. However, it did take some adjusting knowing as I’m reading which person’s story I am reading, Susanna or Artemisia.

I ended up listening to this book on Audible and Xe Sands does a marvelous job in narrating the entire three hours and fifty-one minutes. She has a very calming voice but you can tell there is emotion there as she reads. There is no music or background sound before or during the book.

This book, while written to be a true account from the seventeenth century, struck home with current feminism issues in society today. This story could easily relate to a lot of young women who are in similar situations. 

McCullough does a wonderful job of using the novel in verse to tell the story and it flows very well once the reader is into the book. Her word choices do grab the reader and take them on a rollercoaster of emotions in the book. With her use of vivid wordage and the topic of sexual abuse in the book, this would be suited for more mature readers.

Multiple themes can be picked up in this story betrayal, trust, perseverance, and feminism issues. McCullough tells the story from the perspective of Artemisia and I think this helps drive the themes and the emotions of understanding what she went through during that time.

REVIEW EXCERPTS / AWARDS

Booklist (October 15, 2017)

McCullough’s exquisite debut, a novel in verse, follows the heartbreaking but inspiring true story of gifted Roman painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Raised since she was 12 solely by her volatile, abusive, and less talented artist father, Artemisia spends her days as her father’s apprentice, grinding pigments and completing most of his commissions. At first, she thinks she has found solace with her charming new painting instructor, Agostino Tassi, who awakens a dormant passion in her. In carefully arranged, sophisticated verse, McCullough deftly articulates Artemisia’s growing fear of Tassi as he asserts control over and ultimately rapes her. Woven through Artemisia’s poems are short prose chapters featuring Susanna and Judith, bold ancient Roman heroines from her mother’s stories. The strong females’ stories guide Artemisia through her harrowing trials with Tassi, show her how to paint her truth, and eventually inspire most of her iconic paintings. With dazzling surrealist overtones, McCullough manages to vividly capture a singularly brave, resilient feminist who became an icon during a time when women had almost no agency. Her story and the stunning verse in which it is told will resonate just as strongly with readers today. A captivating and impressive book about a timeless heroine.

Kirkus Reviews (January 15, 2018)
Baroque artist and feminist icon Artemisia Gentileschi is given voice in a debut verse novel. Only 17, Artemisia is already a more gifted painter than her feckless father. But in 17th-century Rome, the motherless girl is only grudgingly permitted to grind pigment, prepare canvas, and complete commissions under his signature. So when the charming Agostino Tassi becomes her tutor, Artemisia is entranced by the only man to take her work seriously…until he resorts to rape. At first broken in body and spirit, she draws from memories of her mother’s stories of the biblical heroines Susanna and Judith the strength to endure and fight back the only way she can. Artemisia tells her story in raw and jagged blank verse, sensory, despairing, and defiant, interspersed with the restrained prose of her mother’s subversive tales. Both simmer with impotent rage at the injustices of patriarchal oppression, which in the stories boils over into graphic sexual assault and bloody vengeance. While the poems (wisely) avoid explicitly depicting either Artemisia’s rape or subsequent judicial torture, the searing aftermath, physical and mental, is agonizingly portrayed. Yet Artemisia’s ferocious passion to express herself in paint still burns most fiercely. Unfortunately, those who lack familiarity with the historical facts or context may emerge from this fire scorched but not enlightened. McCullough’s Rome is a white one; A brief note in the backmatter offers sexual-violence resources. Nonetheless, an incandescent retelling both timeless and, alas, all too timely. 

School Library Journal (January 1, 2018)
Artemisia Gentileschi, 17-year-old daughter of a mediocre Renaissance painter, assists her choleric father Orazio in his studio, mixing colors but, moreso, trying to save face for him by finishing paintings that he is incapable of completing. Remembering the stories of strong biblical women which her now-deceased mother recounted to her-stories meant to strengthen her womanly resolve in a society that valued only men-Artemisia is determined to be the painter her father will never be; thus, when her father hires Agostino Tassi (Tino) to teach her perspesctive, she is thrilled to have someone who can help her achieve new artistic heights. As she paints Susanna and the Elders, her relationship with Tino changes, and he finally seduces her. At first she is emboldened by his "love," but, when she realizes that he has simply used her, she is determined to bring him to court in an effort to save her honor. Using free verse for Artemisia's words and prose for her mother's stories, McCullough's beautifully crafted text will inspire upper-middle/high school readers to research the true story upon which this powerful piece of historical fiction is based. The poetry is clear and revelatory, exploring Artemisia's passion for both art and life. The expression of her intense feelings is gripping and her complexity of character make her a force to be reckoned with, both in her times and in ours. VERDICT A thrilling portrait of a woman of character who refused to be dismissed; this belongs on every YA shelf.

Awards

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) starred, 02/01/18
William C. Morris YA Debut Nominees, 2019

CONNECTIONS

Other books by Joy McCullough:

• McCullough, J. GREAT OR NOTHING. ISBN 9780593372593

• McCullough, J. WE ARE THE ASHES, WE ARE THE FIRE. ISBN 9781432897116

Similar theme/style books:

• Anderson, L. SPEAK: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL. ISBN 9780374300289

• Wilson, K. WHITE ROSE. ISBN 9781328594433