Fierce Dreamer

From the bestselling author of The Bloodletter’s Daughter comes a historical novel about a defiant 17th-century artist who dared to feed her passions and explore the limitless possibilities of art.

Born in the bustling artist quarter of Rome, Artemisia, daughter of renowned painter Orazio Gentileschi, is unavoidably drawn into a profession unheard of for women. With an innate grasp of colour, light and composition, inspired by the mercurial Caravaggio, the fiery Artemisia embraces her calling with a precocious brilliance. But as a young woman, she also finds herself oppressed by a powerful patriarchy and she is forced to endure emotional and physical abuse at the hands of men.

Until a shattering act of violence unleashes Artemisia’s righteous fury. Refusing to be silenced and resolved to best men at their own games, Artemisia does what no woman had dared to do before. She fights back.

A bracing historical story about a woman boldly at odds with her time, Fierce Dreamer explores the fearless determination that would fuel Artemisia Gentileschi’s most courageous works of art and make her independent voice a vital one for our own time.