The Printmaker’s Daughter ~ Katherine Govier
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Harper Perennial
512 pages
ISBN: 9780062000361
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
I’m always a little bit conflicted when it comes to picking up historical fiction, especially when it’s about very specific people (as opposed to the more general “period pieces”). For that reason, The Printmaker’s Daughter didn’t appeal to me right away, though, it sounded interesting enough to look into based on the subject.
The prints of famed Japanese artist Hokusai are well ingrained in my idea of what constitues amazing international art through time. You all know it and if you’re at all like me you love it. I took a kick-butt series of Asian Art History classes in college and have just plain always liked this style of nature depiction. So, of course, I had to set aside my silly prejudices about spot-specific tales of history when I realized that this one was about the possibly true, possibly very scandalous story of Hokusai and his daughter through the 19th century.
I was very well rewarded, as it turns out, as the story is just so readable and fantastic. The book circles around the artist and the protagonist, the father and daughter, with such realism that it honest to goodness, feels like reading about old friends. The most fascinating part of the story is that it is woven through the red light district, the artists’ hang out, the call girls’ home, the place where art, culture, passion and forbidden pleasures live. Poets and prostitutes live together in celebration of all things fun and this is where our story’s roots take hold.
I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves a good story with good, evil, censorship and rebellion. On a more personal scale, when all the hustle and bustle of the city and the lights are stripped away, what remains is a story about family, about friendship and about one father and his daughter. It came in just under the wire with three weeks left in the game, to be called one of my favorite books of 2011. I haven’t read anything else by Govier but I am now off to hunt her other works down.
Check out the links, below for a few other thoughts on the book.
About Katherine Govier
Katherine Govier is a winner of the Toronto Book Award and Canada’s Marian Engel Award for a woman writer in mid-career. Her novel Creation, about John James Audubon in Labrador, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She lives in Toronto.
Visit her website at www.theprintmakersdaughter.com, and connect with her onFacebook.
Katherine’s Tour Stops
Friday, November 25th: nomadreader
Monday, November 28th: Raging Bibliomania
Tuesday, November 29th: A Few More Pages
Wednesday, November 30th: Life In Review
Tuesday, December 6th: Life in the Thumb
Wednesday, December 7th: The Lit Witch
Thursday, December 8th: Unabridged Chick
Friday, December 9th: Amused By Books
Monday, December 12th: Iwriteinbooks’s blog
Tuesday, December 13th: A Bookish Way of Life
Wednesday, December 14th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
TBD: Melody & Words
TBD: Books Like Breathing
Iwriteinbooks's Blog 
This looks like a really good book, but one that probably wouldn’t have caught my attention had I not read about it. I wonder how many great books I miss each year for this reason?
Wow, high praise! These are the types of books that I’m terrified to pick up. I really should, though, I usually end up loving them.
I love that style of art, too — it draws me in every time. This sounds like an interesting read!
I love the image of the waves you included – that alone was enough to get my attention! And your review definitely has me wanting to read this one now.
Thanks for being a part of the tour. I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.