Girl with a Pearl Earring captured me with its seeming simplicity yet taught emotion. At 16, Griet must leave the home of her Protestant parents to become a maid of the Catholic painter Vermeer and live in the household with his wife, their five children and a couple other characters. As the story unfolds Griet becomes more and more involved with helping Vermeer in his studio, which Griet is to keep a secret from most of the rest of the household. Although not much seemed to happen quickly in this story, I was gripped by the anxiety that Griet always carried with her, which kept me engrossed with the book. She always sensed that there would be life-altering consequences if all was revealed and that she would need to make choices where before she was not allowed to make any choices of her own. The conclusion of the story was not typical and very satisfying. This is a fine work into the insight of how the painting by Vermeer may have come to be.
My Rating: 4.0
Chapters
Well written article.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I enjoyed the book and went on to read The Lady and The Unicorn by Chevalier, which was not as good, though I did enjoy the historical information about tapestries.
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