A Light of Her Own

Carrie Callaghan follows the intertwined journeys of two women in her debut novel, A Light of Her Own. As a young artist in 17th-century Holland, Judith Leyster struggles to make a living and earn the professional respect she deserves. She's gained valuable skills during her apprenticeship to Haarlem painter Frans de Grebber, and a close friend in his daughter, Maria. But Judith has her sights set higher: she wants to open her own workshop, train apprentices and win a place in the city's powerful guild of painters, all men. Maria, though she also wants to paint, is preoccupied with questions relating to her Catholic faith: What does God want of her and what sacrifices will he require?

Like her protagonists with their paintings, Callaghan renders her subjects in rich detail, giving readers a glimpse into the world of painters' workshops, smudged with freshly ground pigments and smelling of linseed oil. The politics of the painters' guild and the women's internal challenges are also vividly drawn. While Judith burns with ambition, she struggles to make ends meet, help her ne'er-do-well brother, Abraham, and fight the sexism and corruption displayed by her male colleagues. Maria, desperate for some higher purpose, throws herself into a quest to retrieve a saint's relic. The plot meanders for a bit until Maria's return, but Callaghan brings the characters together to uncover a conspiracy and mend their relationship. Callaghan's novel is as compelling as one of Judith's paintings, a well-crafted blend of light and shadow. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

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