Rating: 
Summary: Okay
Review: I too wanted to love this book -- Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the most fascinating historical figures who is only recently getting "her due." Vreeland has written a decent enough book, but suffers from making her Renaissance era character into a modern soap opera-worthy vixen. I give this book 3 stars only because the author already had so much to work with.....
Rating: 
Summary: RICH, DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS!!!
Review: I left an earlier review, but one thing I neglected to mention was how descriptive this book is. While reading the descriptions of the scene on each page, it is easy to put yourself right there and imagine yourself living in Italy in the 1600s. For example, while describing the herb garden at the convent, you can almost smell the oregano described on the page!! The author's descriptions are so richly detailed, you can easily put yourself in the scene and transport yourself back almost 400 years! BRAVO!!
Rating: 
Summary: ACTUALLY 4 1/2 STARS!!!!
Review: I absolutely loved this book! Having known nothing about Artemisia, I purchased this book because I enjoyed Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Let me tell you, this book is soooo much better!!! Although the book is a work of fiction, I followed the career of Artemisia by printing a collection of her paintings from the internet and followed her career as I read along. It's too bad the book didn't include pictures of her various paintings (similar to Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper)- that would have made the book so much better!!! The story follows Artemesia from the age of 18 when she was raped by her father's friend through her adult hood (about the age of 41). You learn of the various people she met and worked for and how she came to paint the paintings she did. Of course this is Ms. Vreeland's view on how her ideas formed, but they are strong and believable thoughts. My biggest complaint was the book's ending. I found it incomplete and lacking. It needed a more definite ending instead of the one that was published. I was left turning the pages, asking "Is that it?" In spite of its ending, I would highly recommend this book to art lovers, fans of the 17th century, romance readers, readers who enjoy a good moth/daughter relationship. It's all there in these 275+ pages. I anxiously await the next book by Sue Vreeland - after "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" and now the improvement of "Artemeisa", her next book should be even better!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to LOVE this book!!!
Review: I really wanted to love this book. All the hype, plus my love of reading about art and artists, convinced me that this book would be outstanding.I am sorry to say that I did not find it so. If it had not been for the descriptions of the paintings and wanting to find out where Artemisia's life went, I would never have finished the book. The book was so poorly edited and awkwardly written. There were many, many errors and contradictions. The historical facts were presented in the most ungainly and awkward way. (I am talking about little tidbits ---what was going on at the time). It was as if the author had stuck post-it notes on the pages with facts
written on them. These were not woven into the fabric of the novel in any way. One poorly written passage sticks in my mind -- on page 221 Vreeland writes, about Artemisia's daughter Palmira: "Palmira watched the soup for me hanging in a pot over the fire." Poor child, hanging over the fire in a pot! This kind of writing is inexcusable, in my opinion. My suggestion would be that some serious editing be done before the next edition or the paperback are printed.
Rating:
Summary: the passion of artemisia
Review: A wonderful book that leads readers through the story of a pioneering female artist. A must read for both lovers of literature and those interested in a woman's struggle to express herself in a male dominated culture. Filled with great detail and imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Read Girl in Hyacinth Blue first
Review: I have been recommending Girl in Hyacinth Blue to anyone and everyone who will listen to me. In fact, I think that book is far better than the more popular Girl With A Pearl Earring. Thus, you can see why I was so excited to see this book come out. By and large, this is an easy and fun read. It went quickly and was compelling. However, at times I felt that Vreeland when one step too far in explaining what Artemesia was feeling. A sentence less here and there would have made me feel like I was more of the story and more able to make my own inferences and conclusions. However, the descriptions of the paintings were breath-taking, and the story tells itself because the plot is so compelling. I recommend this for a weekend read.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Review: What a well researched and written book. I truly enjoyed the art walks through Rome and Florence. It brought back many memories of the cities. Growing up in Europe, I had the pleasure of visiting Florence several times before the flood in the sixties and I lived in Rome for a year too.
Rating:
Summary: spellbinding
Review: I read her first book and enjoyed it very much; but the improvement in her writing skills between this and the first book is amazing. This book grabs you and holds your attention from beginning to end. She captures the humilation of the rape, the drive of the artist to paint and the need for love and forgiveness in one's life. Artemisia comes to life in a real way, with real feelings, needs and desires. Veerland created a life and blood person painting with words instead of oils. This book is truly a work of great beauty. I hope that she continues to write as she has a wonderful gift to share.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Artistic Journey
Review: As the best-selling author of GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE, Susan Vreeland once again stuns readers with a lyrical depiction of a woman destined to follow her artistic dreams. As an early seventeenth century artist under the tutelage of her artist father, Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia experiences tremendous humiliation as she faces her rapist in papal court. Though Agostino Tassi, a colleague of Orazio's, had raped Artemisia, she is forced to endure a degrading public examination to prove her accusations. With her ruined reputation, Artemisia leaves Rome to wed Pietro Stiattesi and move to Florence. Together, Pietro and Artemisia indulge in the art of painting, but unfortunately for Pietro, it is Artemisia who gets the most recognition, first with a commission from the nephew of the famous Michelangelo, and later from Cosimo de Medici. Though Artemisia and Pietro have a daughter, Palmira, Pietro becomes resentful when Artemisia gains admission to the Accademia dell' Arte del Disegno before he does. The all-encompassing descriptive prose leads the reader back into seventeenth century Italy, following Artemisia and her daughter as they journey to Genoa, Venice, and come full circle back to Rome. With the incredible artistic backdrop of the timeless treasures of these cities, the author often makes a religious connection to the magnificent works depicted there. And for anyone who ever wanted an eyewitness view into an artist's soul, this novel is the perfect venue. Even a non-artist can begin to understand the depth of emotion and lifetime experiences that go into an artist's creativity. Most enduring though, is Artemisia's triumph in a time when women were treated in a most inferior manner.
Rating:
Summary: A fanciful tale that fails to engage
Review: As a lover of historical fiction and Renaissance art, I was very excited to read this book. Unfortunately, the writing was far less impressive than the story it told.
The writing falls flat, often failing to capture the imagination, or sometimes even the interest, of the reader. I often found that instead of actually evoking in me a particular emotion, I was told what emotion I was supposed to feel. The writing felt, in a word, superficial. Though there were many opportunities to delve a little deeper into the meat of the characters, the author consistently stopped a few steps short, making the deficiency of emotional substance dismayingly evident.
The novel was certainly not all bad. I became more and more engaged as the book progressed. Though the ending fell a bit flat for me, I found a rather fanciful and compelling story between the less compelling brackets of beginning and end. For the most part, I looked forward to opportunities to read a bit further.
For a brilliant read that succeeds in many ways in which "The Passion of Artemisia" falls short, try Sarah Dunant's "The Birth of Venus".
As a final note, the audiobook version of this novel was a disappointment. The narrator makes each man in the story sound similarly lecherous, unsympathetic, and one-dimensional, precluding an effective conveyance of the emotion and evolving interaction among characters, ultimately compromising the story. Additionally, music was occasionally played in the background, which sometimes impaired the listener's ability to hear all of the narrator's words. Avoid the audiobook of this novel.
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