'I Am You' fictionalizes the story of a Dutch Golden Age painter and her maid
NPR's Book of the Day
NPR
4.2 • 672 Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome. I'm Linda Holmes. This is NPR's Book of the Day. It can be hard to know how much |
| 0:07.7 | faithfulness to the literal truth a writer owes to historical figures from hundreds of years ago. |
| 0:14.3 | Dutch golden age painter Maria van Ustervic and her assistant, Gerta Peters, were both real women in 17th century Amsterdam, |
| 0:22.9 | and they really lived together for a long time, Gerta having started out as Maria's made. |
| 0:28.5 | The new historical novel, I Am You, by Victoria Redell, |
| 0:32.3 | fictionalizes their story, exploring both their personal relationship and the way they worked together. |
| 0:38.5 | On NPR's Here Now,dell told Robin Young about expanding on what we know about Oostervik and Peters. |
| 0:44.6 | She says that to her, it was believable that the two were lovers and that perhaps Gerta |
| 0:49.2 | even took over some of the painting as Maria's health declined. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Subaru. |
| 0:57.1 | Join Subaru in celebrating their seventh annual |
| 0:59.7 | National Make a Dogs Day on October 22nd, |
| 1:02.8 | a day to do something special for all dogs. |
| 1:05.4 | This day, combined with the Subaru Loves Pets Initiative, |
| 1:08.4 | has helped many shelter animals find loving homes, including hard-to-adopt underdogs. |
| 1:13.7 | Learn more at Subaru.com slash pets. |
| 1:17.3 | This message comes from the Dateline original podcast, Deadly Engagement. |
| 1:21.9 | Join Josh Mankowicz as he tells a twisted story of sex, lies, and betrayal that will keep you guessing until the very end. |
| 1:29.0 | Search deadly engagement to follow now. |
| 1:31.9 | Want to hear a great story? It's about 17th century Dutch artist Maria van Oostervik. |
| 1:37.5 | Okay, stay with me. As a young girl, Maria would sketch the family servant, Peter. |
| 1:43.0 | But soon discovered Peter was actually a girl |
| 1:45.7 | named Gerta. Her family disguised her so she could work. Then in the 1660s, Maria took Gerta, |
... |
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