A mesmerising historical novel, I Am You is a meditation on gender, an ode to artistic creation, and an unforgettable love story that reimagines the life of renowned still life painter Maria van Oosterwijck during the Dutch Golden Age.

"Victoria Redel masterfully evokes the rich period of Golden Age Amsterdam . . . It is spellbinding, wonderfully atmospheric, and impossible to forget" Sarah Jessica Parker, 2025 Booker Prize Judge

At eight years old, Gerta Pieters is forced to disguise herself as a boy and sent to work for a genteel family. When their brilliant and beautiful daughter Maria sees through Gerta's ruse, she insists Gerta accompany her to Amsterdam and help her enter the elite, male-dominated art world.

While Maria rises in the ranks of society as a painting prodigy, Gerta makes herself invaluable in every way: confidante, muse, lover. But as Gerta steps into her own talents, their relationship fractures into a complex web of obsession and rivalry, until the secrets they keep threaten to unravel everything.

"A true stand out...With echoes of Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep, I Am You is earthy and fleshy and pulsates with suppressed emotions of rage, envy and desire. A wonder of a novel" Elizabeth Fremantle, bestselling author of Firebrand