© 2025 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace
Buffalo, NY 14202

Toronto Address:
130 Queens Quay E.
Suite 903
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6


Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
BTPM NPR Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Give Now
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Victoria Redel's 'I Am You' explores art, gender, love and 17th-century Dutch art

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom
Published September 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM EDT
The cover of "I Am You" and author Victoria Redel. (Courtesy of Zando and George Rings)
/
The cover of "I Am You" and author Victoria Redel. (Courtesy of Zando and George Rings)

Victoria Redel‘s sweeping new historical novel “I Am You” takes on a dizzying breadth of subject matter, including gender, art, women’s rights, history and romance — all set in 1600s Amsterdam.

The story follows famed Dutch painter Maria van Oosterwijck and her assistant, the younger painter Gerta Pieters, as the two defy the norms of the male-dominated art world and fall in love.

Maria van Oosterwijck painted by Wallerant Vaillant in 1671. (Courtesy of The Rijksmuseum)
/
Maria van Oosterwijck painted by Wallerant Vaillant in 1671. (Courtesy of The Rijksmuseum)

By Victoria Redel

Excerpted from “I Am You: A Novel” by Victoria Redel. © 2025 by Victoria Redel. Used with permission of the publisher, SJP Lit, an imprint of Zando, LLC.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2025 WBUR
Here & Now Newsroom