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tepidduck's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this, it wasn't quite as good as the first book, The Apothecary's Daughter, but still very enjoyable.
anovelstart's review against another edition
4.0
I think reading this book was rather well timed. At the beginning of the book, Beth's painting tutor commits suicide and she struggles on to find meaning and happiness again. Of course she finds it, but a change of scenery helped. I think reading this book was quite well timed because one of my best friends committed suicide in December and I had been struggling to understand and look past the sorrow of no longer seeing her. Finally, I find a book were the character can relate and I can use her experiences and try to apply them to my own grief and mourning.
The main character, Beth, looses her passion for painting. She doesn't know how to regain it, but she's determined to try so that she can make her old tutor proud. She finally finds a position for a local Bishop painting and cataloguing his flowers at the different stages of their development. She finds that she loves this and slowly finds her spirit again.
There is, of course, a lot more to the book than just this one point, but this is the first point that came to mean something to me. It is a terrible thing when a friend dies and you want to make them proud, and Beth does. Furthermore, she finds love in an unexpected place and helps in some unexpected political plots to help her friends in the royal family.
We find in this story that Beth is a patient young woman who can easily pluck up the guts to ask someone a question that has great significance but may also be quite dangerous. She goes through a lot, including a potential rape (luckily people heard her screams) and she goes on, with strength, to look after her family.
This is truly a story of great strength. The story of a woman with great burdens, but who doesn't sulk or self-pity. Beth sets her burdens aside to help her family and friends in their times of great need, however she also finds love in an unexpected place to a man who values her painting skills and wants her to continue (something unheard of back then).
This book is one of my favourites by an excellent author who is quite skilled at writing historical fiction. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt in such a story and I'm glad to say that I've taken some of them on board. Definitely recommended if you like such a story.
For more reviews, please visit my book blog at: http://a-novel-start.blogspot.co.uk/
The main character, Beth, looses her passion for painting. She doesn't know how to regain it, but she's determined to try so that she can make her old tutor proud. She finally finds a position for a local Bishop painting and cataloguing his flowers at the different stages of their development. She finds that she loves this and slowly finds her spirit again.
There is, of course, a lot more to the book than just this one point, but this is the first point that came to mean something to me. It is a terrible thing when a friend dies and you want to make them proud, and Beth does. Furthermore, she finds love in an unexpected place and helps in some unexpected political plots to help her friends in the royal family.
We find in this story that Beth is a patient young woman who can easily pluck up the guts to ask someone a question that has great significance but may also be quite dangerous. She goes through a lot, including a potential rape (luckily people heard her screams) and she goes on, with strength, to look after her family.
This is truly a story of great strength. The story of a woman with great burdens, but who doesn't sulk or self-pity. Beth sets her burdens aside to help her family and friends in their times of great need, however she also finds love in an unexpected place to a man who values her painting skills and wants her to continue (something unheard of back then).
This book is one of my favourites by an excellent author who is quite skilled at writing historical fiction. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt in such a story and I'm glad to say that I've taken some of them on board. Definitely recommended if you like such a story.
For more reviews, please visit my book blog at: http://a-novel-start.blogspot.co.uk/
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
5.0
'The Painter’s Apprentice’ by Charlotte Betts is a romantic historical novel set in London during 1685-1688, during the time of religious unrest. It is set after Betts’ first novel, ‘The Apothecary’s Daughter’, and involves the same characters, but in no way do you need to read the first to understand the second. As it is just as wonderful however, I highly recommend you do.
In this novel we meet Beth, daughter to Susannah (who was the Apothecary’s Daughter in the first novel) who is at a marital age but has no inclinations. She can’t imagine leaving her childhood home – a comforting hostel for those who would otherwise be shafted into Bedlam – as she especially enjoys the company of one of the residents; a painter by the name of Johannes. As she has quite the talent for painting, all she has ever wanted is to develop her talent to be the very best it could ever be, and if that means never going through the distraction of marriage and a family, so be it.
Full review here: http://sentientonline.net/?p=3596
In this novel we meet Beth, daughter to Susannah (who was the Apothecary’s Daughter in the first novel) who is at a marital age but has no inclinations. She can’t imagine leaving her childhood home – a comforting hostel for those who would otherwise be shafted into Bedlam – as she especially enjoys the company of one of the residents; a painter by the name of Johannes. As she has quite the talent for painting, all she has ever wanted is to develop her talent to be the very best it could ever be, and if that means never going through the distraction of marriage and a family, so be it.
Full review here: http://sentientonline.net/?p=3596
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