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Girl With A Pearl Earring: A Novel

Average rating: 4/5

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Girl With A Pearl Earring: A Novel

by Tracy Chevalier

Plume | January 18, 2001 | Trade Paperback

History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius . . . even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

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    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 3/5

    Enjoyable and quick

    Grey Grailing

    • Top Reviewer

    6 weeks ago

    Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fictionalized account of how the famous Vermeer painting came to be.
    The book is, for lack of a better term, very artsy. There are incredibly lengthy descriptions of colors and their mixtures and just art in general.
    The book is not really about Griet (the main character) but rather her relationship with Johannes Vermeer and his artwork. (It leaves open the option that in another life or century she could also have been a famous artist.) Because the book is devoted to that relationship all the other aspects of the novel are undeveloped. The relationship with her mother, father, a brother who we never find out what happens to him, and of course her 'love interest'. In fact I'm not even sure we can call Pieter the son a love interest as often when she is with him she is frequently thinking of other things and just doesn't seem that interested in him. The fact that Vermeer is a coward throughout the novel and Griet's reactions to him made it difficult to enjoy reading about the two of them.
    The ending was also a bit of a disappointment in how brief it was and how Griet acted so respectfully of the social caste.
    The book was well written and there had clearly been a lot of research put into this novel which is always nice.
    Recommended to people who like art and historical fiction

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 4/5

    A Great Book

    Willa

    4 months ago

    If you like historical fiction and you like art then this is a book that you will love. I'm a Vermeer fan and actually have a copy of this painting in my home, and so was really intrigued to read this. It's well written and insightful and is a satisfying read.

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    krystal dymond

    Rating: 5/5

    one of my favourites

    krystal dymond

    7 months ago

    I absolutely love this movie. I could watch it over and over again. I enjoy movies that are made in this time about the past. The story is about a girl who is forced to become a maid for a family and she ends up having a crush on her master. He is definitely into her as well and there is so much tension throughout the movie. Her master is a painter and that is the only source of income in the household. A guy that he paints for wants a painting of the maid alone. The master has to secretly go behind his wife's back and paint this picture for him. Usually if a maid gets involved in any way in their masters personal life things start to turn upside down and people talk. She ends up getting the picture painted and gets fired because the wife finds out. This story is based on a true story and the picture exists. I think this is a great storyline, it is unlike anything I have seen.

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    Cate

    Rating: 4/5

    Lovely Read

    Cate

    12 years ago

    Two books came out at the same time focusing on Vermeer. I prefer this one. In a fast paced world, Ms Chevalier evokes a world rich with visual elements, sounds and even smells. While Vermeer, himself, remains elusive, which I think I prefer, his surrounds are portrayed with stunning clarity. Look at this book as a docu-drama and it doesn't disappoint.

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From Our Editors

Review by Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books & Music Inc.

You don't need a background in art history to appreciate this engaging novel centred on the 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It's an amazing blend of fact and fiction, fine art and domestic trivia, and the story unfolds as the artist draws closer to the narrator, his young model.

From the Publisher

History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius . . . even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

About the Author

Tracy Chevalier (born October 1962 in Washington, DC) is a bestselling historical novelist. She was raised in Washington, D.C and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland. After receiving her B.A. in English from Oberlin College, she moved to England in 1984 where she worked several years as a reference book editor. Leaving her job in 1993, she began a year-long M.A in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Her career began with the book The Virgin Blue but she became well known with her novel Girl with a Pearl Earring, a book based on the creation of the famous painting by Vermeer. The film based on the novel received three Academy Award nominations in 2004. Burning Bright, published in March 2007, concerns two children who become neighbors of William Blake in London in 1792. Her latest novel is Remarkable Creatures, based on the life of the English 19th-century fossil collector Mary Anning. She lives in London with her husband and son.

Trade Paperback

240 Pages, 5.05 x 7.75 x 0.75 in

January 18, 2001

Plume

English


0452282152
9780452282155

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