Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt

 

Summary (from the publisher): Amsterdam 1654: a dangerous secret threatens to destroy a young widow's new life.

Following the sudden death of her husband, 25-year-old Catrin leaves her small village and takes a job as housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. Amsterdam is a city at the peak of its powers: science and art are flourishing, and Dutch ships bring back exotic riches from the Far East.

When a figure from her past threatens her new life, Catrin flees to Delft. There, her painting talent earns her a chance as a pottery painter. Slowly the workshop begins to develop a new type of pottery to rival the coveted Chinese porcelain - and Delft Blue is born. But when tragedy strikes, Catrin has a hard choice to make.

Review: Set in the Netherlands in the 1650s, this novel follows a young widow as she seeks to make a new life. After just one short year of marriage, Catrin's husband has died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. She flees her small village for Amsterdam and a new start. While she quickly finds a job as a housekeeper with a well to do family and meets an intriguing man, a figure from her village appears to threaten her new life and Catrin flees again, this time to Delft. But in Delft, Catrin is able to use her talent for painting as a pottery painter. At every turn, Catrin's steps towards success and happiness are threatened - by chance circumstances, by the plague, and by those who covet what she has. 

I truly enjoyed this work of historical fiction. Catrin's life is filled with upheaval and uncertainty and the whole novel I was rooting for her to build a peaceful home and life for herself. She is a flawed character, with a deep secret from her abusive first marriage that provides the impetus for much of her choices in this book. But I really liked her and appreciated how strong, independent, and compassionate she is. Only in the position of widow could she set out alone as a woman and seek a job in a new city. When I read the summary of this book, I expected it to be a relatively tranquil book about domestic affairs and pottery painting, but it was truly action packed and spent significant time on multiple murder mysteries, an explosion that kills and maims many, and a gruesome plague epidemic that killed off many other characters.  A unique story about an interesting time period. I loved Catrin's story and was sad to see it come to an end. 

Stars: 4