Book cover of Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death

Book description

'Brilliant ... rush out and buy it' Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes

A stunning new memoir of a life in art, a father and daughter, and what a shared love of a painting can come to mean.

'We see with everything that we are'

On…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Thunderclap as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is the account of the explosion in Delft in the 17th Century that killed so many people, including Carl Fabritius, who was working on The Goldfinch, which was miraculously saved. The writer links it cleverly to her late artist father, in which it is a bit like H is for Hawk.

I love the painting of the Dutch Golden Age for its humanity. All of life is there in its calm domesticity.

In Dutch hands, even a tied bunch of asparagus attains the luminosity of an Assumption, as Laura Cumming reveals as she weaves a memoir of her father, also a painter, with the story of Carel Fabritius, the artist of The Goldfinch, most of whose work was destroyed in the same sudden moment as his life in an accidental munitions explosion in Delft in 1654.

Thunderclap offers a salutary reminder that life comes at you fast – and death…

If you love Thunderclap...

Ad

Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Want books like Thunderclap?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 91 books like Thunderclap.

Browse books like Thunderclap

Book cover of Midnight Blue
Book cover of Death in Delft
Book cover of Girl with a Pearl Earring

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Thunderclap, you might also like...

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

5 book lists we think you will like!