"Fierce Dreamer" tells the story of an interesting woman, but I don't think the novel quite did her justice. There isn't a lot of character depth or development and the writing style didn't really work for me.

*received from netgalley for honest review* 4.5, really good book and loved the historical note as well

i really enjoyed reading this, Artemisia was a great character and I really felt bad for her. Overall this was a really enjoyable read.

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but Fierce Dreamer was really interesting to read. I found this novel was a great way to learn more about the artist Artemisia and what her life and upbringing may have been like.

*𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌*
Fierce Dreamer: A Novel
By Linda Lafferty
4 / 5 🌟

It's early 17th century Rome, and young Artemisia Gentileschi is showing great skill in her art. She is bold and daring with her paintings, not settling for simple still lifes. She longs to capture color, light, emotion, and pain. Artemisia desires to be a great painter such as her father, Orazio Gentileschi, or the master Caravaggio himself, but being a woman she knows she is trapped by her gender and status.

Fierce Dreamer is a fictional account of the life of a daring female artist in Post-Renaissance Rome. She lives under the oppressive rule of a patriarchal society that tells her and women that they are not smart enough, good enough, or worthy enough to be more than wives, mothers, or mistresses. Even then they are treated as second class citizens.

Artemisia suffers a violent attack from a friend of her father. She knows her chances of ever becoming an artist on her own are now ruined. Mocked and berated by those she loves, Artemisia decides to fight back, determined not to let men control her destiny.

The setting of this book was utterly captivating. Linda Lafferty places you right alongside Artemisia. You can smell the paints, the turpentine, the sour wines, the body odor, and the cooking of artichokes and figs. Artemisia seemed to pour out her pain and anger onto the canvas. It is said by many Art Historians that her works eclipsed her father’s. I suggest that you check out her painting 𝓙𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓢𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼. Although a Biblical scene, many interpret that Artemisia’s revenge on her attacker is painted here.

*Trigger Warnings: rape

Thank you to @lakeunionauthors and @netgalley for this digital copy for review.

🎨 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕪𝕡𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕣𝕥? 𝕀 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕥.

This book was unique in its setting and scope and well researched. It is a rich, beautiful novel.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

*Many thanks to Linda Lafferty, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
An interesting story about Artemisa Gentileschi who was a 17th century female artist determine to become one from very early years. A good book with regard to telling the story of her life, however, writing was rather not that engaging for me.

Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter, now considered one of the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists. She was a woman beyond her time and also the victim of her time.
Brilliant, amazing and passionate woman.

Must read.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you to the publisher, author and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I discovered Linda Lafferty's books a few years ago and really enjoyed her other books. When I saw this book was out and available, I was excited to read it. This book is set in Italy in the 17th century, involving an artist and his family. The rich character description and historical information was a very captivating read.

An absolutely wonderful story of a woman who stood her ground and fought back from the men who wanted to oppress her. It's fascinating and sad at the same time to read about something that's still happening today This is a must read because these women paved the way for the rest of us. Happy reading!

What a terrific novel this is! Artemisia is a talented artist but she's also a woman living in 17th century Rome and as a result has little freedom and even less respect. Her father is an artist and she's got a relationship with Caravaggio as well (she's been referred to as painting in the style of Caravaggio). That doesn't help, however, because she's still stuck. Then she's raped by Agostino Tassi. Her father (!) presses charges and Tassi, a truly evil man, is put on trial. Highly recommend that the reader do some googling while reading because of of these are real people and their stories are fascinating. I learned a lot not only from Lafferty's carefully researched book but also because she piqued my interest to keep reading elsewhere. Artemisia's art focused on women and sadly for many years she was more or less ignored. Her work was due to be the subject of an exhibition at the National Gallery in London this year but that, like so much else has been delayed. The publication of this novel has not been delated, however and it's an excellent read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For art fans and fans of historical fiction.

This was absolutely fascinating and fantastic. I felt everything reading Artemisia's story. Rage, sorrow, despair and hope. I teared up when Artemisia heard other Roman women yell brava.
It's a story about a wronged artist, who lived before her time. Torn between loving and hating her father and wishing for freedom. After events unfold Artemisia takes revenge on men through her courage and her paintings.

Content warning for rape and slut-shaming.

I cannot recommend this highly enough! This is another gem from Netgalley.

Passionate, talented, and utterly a woman beyond her time, Artemisia Gentileschi is an amazing 17th century painter. Learning to draw and paint at the side of her father Orazio Gentileschi, a talented painter in his own right, Artemisia also learns from the likes of Caravaggio and and others. But while Artemisia's talent outstrips that of her father, women simply aren't painters in this time, and she is relegated to working on paintings for her father and his clients without a hope of showing her own. But Artemisia is a victim of her times; she's rarely able to leave the house, she can't paint her own paintings under own name; her father's patron may have molested and another artist, Agostino Tassi, raped her. After a stunning trial (especially stunning in the 17th century, when anything that a man did to a woman was the woman's fault) Artemisia gets revenge through her paintings.

Linda Lafferty has brought to life this beautiful, talented, passionate, vibrant amazing woman. This book is an absolute must read!

Artemisia Gentileschi’s story is extraordinary- daughter of a monumentally distinguished and brilliant Orazio, she’s one of the tiny handful of women who made it during her time as a painter. Taking her place in the pantheon of the greats, her struggle to succeed and her appalling life story would be shocking in any era. Raped by one of her father’s assistants, she decided to take him to court to prove that the act wasn’t consensual. There she had thumb screws applied (imagine not just the pain but the terror of losing not just your reputation and your ability to paint with broken fingers). She successfully defended herself and then painted her experience through a series of haunting self portraits.
Linda Lafferty tells Artemesia’s story as a novel- it is racy and pacy and well researched.

This was fantastic, I enjoyed from start to finish. I was angry, I was touched, I felt horror and other emotions throughout reading this. I was engaged from the very start and I couldn't put this down. The fact that the characters are rooted in truth and researched so well made this an experience where I felt immersed. I would read more from this Author and commend her for a wonderful job, the editing was also really well done (finding grammatical errors and inconsistencies is sometimes distracting). Thank you for the opportunity to read and share my opinion on this great read.

This is the first book I have read by Linda Lafferty and I am very pleased to see that she has written others - I'll be hunting them down as soon as I finish this review.
This is the second book I've finished today that has left me completely speechless at the end - a sign of a great story by a great writer.
As well as an interesting heroine - Artemisia Gentileschi who was far, far ahead of her time, this author brings so vividly to life 17th century Rome and the lives of the painters and women who lived then.
It wasn't an easy read although it was well-written. As a modern woman, reading about someone who is being told by her father that she can't even go outside during the day without an escort, was difficult and made me frustrated.
I won't go into any spoilers because anyone who reads this book should have the joy of finding out what happened for themselves.
I will say I am in awe of the story telling, and absolutely astonished at the strength of women who lived more than 200 years before the feminist movement.
An absolutely fantastic read to be savoured.

It’s clear that a great deal of thorough research has gone into this novel. We learn a lot about the main characters and a lot about the social attitudes of the time. The author’s descriptive skills enable her to evoke the sights, sounds and even the smells of 16th/17th C Rome. You can almost believe you’re in a crowded street, a stifling kitchen, a filthy tavern or an artist’s workshop. The story moves along at a good pace – you really care about what happens next – and, as well as explaining how hard it was for an aspiring female artist to succeed, it also points out the injustices towards women in general. It makes you think...what’s changed since then?...what hasn’t?... Maybe a timely novel.

An interesting biography of Artemisia. It read like a novel, and would interest people who have no knowledge of at, as well as those who do- although there was not much technical detail about the paintings, and I would have appreciated copies of the paintings to look at. Artemisia had a fascinating life, and this book really conveyed the lack of options available to a female artist at the time, and explained why she had to make the choices she did. It worked as a biography but also as a historical fiction novel, and felt well researched and well paced.