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katko123's review against another edition
2.0
Oh, that was a struggle. It´s written in so dry and emotionless language, as if I was reading a news report. I finished it feeling very, very tired.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
kidoma's review against another edition
3.0
I expected a historical adventure book and it really wasn’t. Yet I learned so much about the Dutch and European art scene in the 1700s I couldn’t help be fascinated. I was also very taken by the Russian Empress Catherine and almost wanted to know more about her. I had no idea how she revolutionized the thinking of art as a reflection of a nation’s legacy rather belonging to private citizens. Had she not hogged all those paintings, would we have national galleries today I wonder ? The writing was at time a bit dry and I wish there had been a stronger story line. It almost felt as those parts could be read independently. Thank you booksiren for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. I’ve enjoyed it. The book was free and opinions stated are my own.
caroline_carnivorous's review against another edition
4.0
I received an epub of this for free.
I love reading about royals, and am casually interested in archaeology - not that much into art, but this book was still really interesting. I finished it within a day!
It's split into three parts: The first tells you the history of Catherine the Great, Dutch art and how those two met - leading to the legendary shipwreck of Vrouw Maria. The latter two parts fast forwards to modern times, where you can read a lot about how the ship was found and what happened after. There is more sprinkled throughout, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me about this book is that it reads like a novel. The authors really make the history come alive! It's really well researched. My only complaints are that it jumps back and forth between the topics quite a bit, and there aren't any pictures. I would really have appreciated if they included photos of the artworks they talked about, the ship, Catherine the Great of course, and so on.
I really recommend this if you're interested in these topics, and especially if you struggle with non-fiction! This is a pretty easy read compared to what you'd imagine it to be.
I love reading about royals, and am casually interested in archaeology - not that much into art, but this book was still really interesting. I finished it within a day!
It's split into three parts: The first tells you the history of Catherine the Great, Dutch art and how those two met - leading to the legendary shipwreck of Vrouw Maria. The latter two parts fast forwards to modern times, where you can read a lot about how the ship was found and what happened after. There is more sprinkled throughout, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me about this book is that it reads like a novel. The authors really make the history come alive! It's really well researched. My only complaints are that it jumps back and forth between the topics quite a bit, and there aren't any pictures. I would really have appreciated if they included photos of the artworks they talked about, the ship, Catherine the Great of course, and so on.
I really recommend this if you're interested in these topics, and especially if you struggle with non-fiction! This is a pretty easy read compared to what you'd imagine it to be.
ash3's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book with many moving parts. I found at the beginning it was slightly hard to keep track of who was who but I did like that the book was broken down into sections covering different aspects of the story. I found the parts about finding the shipwreck and the aftermath of finding the ship fascinating. Excellently researched.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
beehan__'s review against another edition
adventurous
informative
4.0
This book was wonderful! I didn't quite know what to expect when starting it but the combination of non-fiction, fictitious fleshing out of the main persona's life stories, plus the thriller-like following of what was happening within the past 20 years made for a great reading experience! It was hugely informative and easy to follow.
I won't give the fifth star because at times the sheer amount of information was too much in my opinion, the book got a bit long-winded at times and went on a bunch of unnecessary tangents in the process.
But wonderfully written about something I had never heard of, very informative, and the genre mix was a brilliant idea!
(I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)
I won't give the fifth star because at times the sheer amount of information was too much in my opinion, the book got a bit long-winded at times and went on a bunch of unnecessary tangents in the process.
But wonderfully written about something I had never heard of, very informative, and the genre mix was a brilliant idea!
(I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)
falooda789's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fascinating read! I came into it with very little prior knowledge about Catherine the Great and famous pieces of art work that was created in the 1700s. The authors did a great job of bringing these historical figures to life and showing the impact the art had since that time period. This was a very well researched tale about a shipwreck that may be interesting to people who like reading about history or art.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
elementarymydear's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Imagine, if you will, that it’s one o’clock in the morning, and you’ve opened the Wikipedia page for the Vrouw Maria: an 18th Century Dutch shipwreck containing paintings bought by Catherine the Great. You read a bit about the boat, and the day the storm sank, and then you open in a new tab the article about the painter of the lost art. Then about Catherine the Great. Then about the art historian who decided the artist was no good and wrote him out of history, then a later art historian who decided he should be rewritten back into history, and while you’re there you may as well read about the man who founded Washington DC’s National Gallery. Then you read about the diver who discovered the wreck, and then before you know it you’re knee-deep in the legal battle between the diver and the Finnish National Bureau of Antiquities, including maritime law, antiquities law, the European Court of Human Rights, UNESCO Heritage Sites, and somehow, Swedish multi-millionaires.
Find this and other reviews on my blog!
That’s what reading this book is like – and it’s not a bad thing at all. It’s everything (and I mean everything – the authors were very thorough) you might want to know about one lost painting, and the events that came before and after it. The book is split into two parts. Part one is about the history of the painting, the painter, and how Catherine the Great came to buy it. Part two is about the modern day attempts to recover the shipwreck and the painting, and the complexities raised by these plans. Prepare yourself, though; no stone is left unturned, and it’s a slow read to get through the sheer amount of detail and background given to us.
That being said, this was – surprisingly – a very gripping read. Although I read it incredibly slowly I felt like I was reading a gripping, page-turner of a thriller, and although that meant I got a little disappointed when I realised how little I’d read after an hour or more of reading, it wasn’t hard to sit down and get absorbed back into the story.
The biggest drawback for me was a lack of citations. For a popular non-fiction book you wouldn’t expect footnotes, but the bibliography was impossible to find on Kindle; I didn’t even know it was there until I found it hidden in the epilogue. When the authors are painting such a vivid story, though, it was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction (or rather, fictionalised fact for embellishment). Especially in the historical chapters people would say things, or feel things, or do things, and it wasn’t always clear how we know this. Did they say it to someone who wrote it down? Was it a diary entry? For the later chapters about people still living, it wasn’t always clear if the people involved had been interviewed by the authors, or if they had used quotes from other interviews, or people’s recollections. Without a way of checking chapter notes or a bibliography, a brief note in the text would have tied the whole thing together very nicely.
This is definitely a niche interest book. If you are interested in the subject matter, definitely pick it up (when you have many hours to spare!). If you’re not, this probably isn’t the book to get you into it. For those of you who do pick it up, though, it’s a treat of a read.
Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy.
Find this and other reviews on my blog!
That’s what reading this book is like – and it’s not a bad thing at all. It’s everything (and I mean everything – the authors were very thorough) you might want to know about one lost painting, and the events that came before and after it. The book is split into two parts. Part one is about the history of the painting, the painter, and how Catherine the Great came to buy it. Part two is about the modern day attempts to recover the shipwreck and the painting, and the complexities raised by these plans. Prepare yourself, though; no stone is left unturned, and it’s a slow read to get through the sheer amount of detail and background given to us.
That being said, this was – surprisingly – a very gripping read. Although I read it incredibly slowly I felt like I was reading a gripping, page-turner of a thriller, and although that meant I got a little disappointed when I realised how little I’d read after an hour or more of reading, it wasn’t hard to sit down and get absorbed back into the story.
The biggest drawback for me was a lack of citations. For a popular non-fiction book you wouldn’t expect footnotes, but the bibliography was impossible to find on Kindle; I didn’t even know it was there until I found it hidden in the epilogue. When the authors are painting such a vivid story, though, it was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction (or rather, fictionalised fact for embellishment). Especially in the historical chapters people would say things, or feel things, or do things, and it wasn’t always clear how we know this. Did they say it to someone who wrote it down? Was it a diary entry? For the later chapters about people still living, it wasn’t always clear if the people involved had been interviewed by the authors, or if they had used quotes from other interviews, or people’s recollections. Without a way of checking chapter notes or a bibliography, a brief note in the text would have tied the whole thing together very nicely.
This is definitely a niche interest book. If you are interested in the subject matter, definitely pick it up (when you have many hours to spare!). If you’re not, this probably isn’t the book to get you into it. For those of you who do pick it up, though, it’s a treat of a read.
Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy.
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Pegasus Books for the eARC! I love art history and royalty so naturally this book sounded perfect for me, and I couldn’t put it down.
The story spans from the 1600s up to the present day, and I love a good multi-timeline story! I really enjoyed learning about Dutch art history, noble/royal family backgrounds and alliances. It was nice to have alternating chapters on these subjects for the first half of the book! Provides nice background to better understand the importance of the ship and it’s treasures as well as the characters involved.
The second half then focuses on salvage technology, history of wreck hunting, and some other shipwrecks in the same region as the Vrouw Maria. I didn’t enjoy the second half of the book as much. The chapters in this section could be a bit dry at times, specifically with what seemed like unimportant background info on the divers lives. Those sections didn’t really relate to how they got into diving and their experiences (ie Rauno and his boxing past and trip to Russia). I just found this sort of detailing unnecessary and like it could’ve saved some pages.
I had no idea how dramatic and intense shipwreck salvaging was between marine archaeologists/museums and wreck hunters! It was crazy and I didn’t expect to enjoy that section so much. The authors also talk about maritime law and the field of marine archaeology which could be dry at times but it was necessary for the story and it helped me learn something new. if that wasn’t enough drama and complication about the ships history, add in political dynamics and things are bound to “rock the boat”
Of course the art history sections were fantastic for me! The book looked at how art evolved in Europe, and how in the 19th and 20th centuries America started affecting the art world. They mention the erasure of Gerrit Dou as a Dutch Golden Age master, which makes sense as he was highly valued up until the 19th/20th centuries when other artists of the time (Rembrandt and Vermeer) became more internationally recognized. Even now my Dutch husband hadn’t heard of Dou, although he’s not much of an art lover anyways.
Highly recommend this book if you enjoy art history, maritime adventures, political dynamics, or royalty-centered stories-this book will have something for you!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Slavery
Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, and Sexual content