A review by corabookworm
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book was absolutely stunning. Twisting together the biblical stories of Judith and Susanna with the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, it tells of her career as a painter and her survival of rape, along with the trial that followed. It was a powerful story told through beautiful poems, and a must-read for anyone interested in Artemisia or fans of historical fiction poetry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

The main story is about a girl surviving rape and being forced through a grueling, misoginistic trial to prove her "innocence". Judith's story is also included, about a woman who sleeps with a man to behead him, and Susanna's, about a girl who is spied upon by two elderly men while bathing and also forced through a "trial" of sorts to prove her innocence.