The Map Colorist
Although young Anneke van Brug rarely ventures outside of her Amsterdam neighborhood, it is the age of Dutch exploration, and she grows up feeling like she’s seen the world. Her mother watercolors maps, her brother studies cartography and surveying, and her father was once the artist on a Dutch expedition to the Congo. Anneke becomes a colorist like her mother, but she longs to create a map of her own, despite it being unheard of for a woman to become a mapmaker.
When Anneke tries to achieve that ambition, she finds herself confronting not only 17th-century Amsterdam’s expectations for women, but also temptation and gossip when a wealthy patron invites her to color his personal collection of maps. He may be the key to helping her publish a map of her own, but working in his home entangles her in unexpected scandal. She must protect both her family’s reputation and her own, without giving up her long-held dreams for artistic success.
D’Harlingue carefully crafts not only the sights, smells, and colors of Amsterdam in the Dutch Golden Age, but also the mores of 17th-century Dutch society and the limitations it placed on women. Anneke’s conflicts might seem minor to the modern reader and her world might seem narrow, but D’Harlingue so effectively creates 17th-century Amsterdam that the reader understands the barriers that Anneke faces and the courage she needs to protect her reputation and to achieve her dreams. She is an immediately sympathetic character and one who the reader will cheer for. Despite a gentle pace, the story and the characters are satisfying and well-written.
