Midnight Blue

AMSTERDAM, 1654: AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF HOLLAND'S GOLDEN AGE, A DANGEROUS SECRET THREATENS TO DESTROY A YOUNG WIDOW'S NEW LIFE
Following the sudden death of her husband, twenty-five-year-old Catrin leaves her small village and takes a job as a housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. Amsterdam is a city at the peak of its powers: science and art are flourishing in the Golden Age and Dutch ships bring back exotic riches from the Far East. Madam Van Nulandt passes her time taking expensive painting lessons from a local master, Rembrandt van Rijn, and when Catrin takes up a brush to finish some of her mistress's work, Rembrandt realizes the maid has genuine talent and encourages her to continue.
When a figure from her past threatens her new life, Catrin flees to the smaller city of Delft. There, her gift as a painter earns her a chance to make a living painting pottery at a local workshop. Slowly, the workshop begins to develop a new type of pottery to rival fancy blue-on-white imported Chinese porcelain—and the graceful and coveted Delft Blue designs she creates help revolutionize the industry. But when tragedy strikes, Catrin must decide whether to defend her newfound independence, or return to the village that she'd fled.

Simone van der Vlugt is an acclaimed Dutch novelist, whose books have sold more than two million copies. She lives with her husband and two children in Alkmaar. Midnight Blue is her first novel to be published in the United States.