When the Nicolaes, whom she calls Gold Mustache Man, walks past, she tells him what is wrong, and, some days later, she finds a doll sitting on her stoop, waiting for her.

At the beginning of the novel, Cornelia, the supposed daughter of Rembrandt, describes how she has never gotten a chance to experience the things her wealthier friends have been able to do.

When Rembrandt finishes his family portrait, Cornelia and Neel realize that he has painted the innocent eyes of the baby as Titus's.

Magdalena shows Cornelia how little she cares about those who need to make a profit when she tells her she's going to buy twice as much fabric at a discount and then return the extra for full price.

When Cornelia and Magdalena return to her home, they see Titus lying on the bed with the tokens of the plague right under his ear.

At a stressful point in the waiting for Titus to pull through, Rembrandt sees the beads that were once Hendrickje's and kicks Cornelia out to go to Nicolaes.

Inside his home, he explains to her that he is her real father and that he left her mother because he had seen her posing nude for Rembrandt.

Rembrandt asks what he has told her and then tells her his side of the story and how he had promised her mother he would take care of her and Cornelia.

For instance, Gillian Engberg of Booklist commented that I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter is “noteworthy for emotional depth," adding that it is an "absorbing romantic story.

Publishers Weekly noted it as "sensitively sketched first novel paints a compelling portrait of [Cornelia]", adding that it had "colorful cast.

"[10] Booklist noted the novel's “heartbreaking individuals" and the author's "sensitive development of characters" and remarked that the novel is a “powerful family drama.

One reviewer noted the author "uses paintings in effective ways to tether the story"[11] and another commented on the novel's "highly atmospheric Dutch setting.