Girl with a Pearl Earring

This book was a phenomenon when it came out, and with good reason.

Chevalier’s words paint a picture of the life of a young girl, Griet, who is working in the house of the artist, Johannes Vermeer in 1660s Delft. In the novel, Griet is the model for the famous painting. The relationship between artist and model, and what they do, and don’t, mean to each other, is complex and intriguing.

The way that Chevalier depicts the restrained interactions between the two seems to mimic Vermeer’s restrained yet visually detailed style.

Your first love is always special, right? This is the book that made me discover how wonderful a fictionalized story behind a familiar piece of art could be.

I loved how personal and meaningful the story was—how it gave life not just to the artist, but to the beautiful, unknown girl whose face is so familiar to us. It is the perfect mix of historical fact and fiction so well blended that the reader can’t tell where one stops and the other starts.

Chevalier has other books along a similar vein, but this one still stands as the best. (And… show more.

This is a book I’ve read more than once. I sympathized with Griet, the main character and enjoyed reading about her world, set in 1600s Holland. When her father goes blind and is unable to support the family, Griet’s mother forces her to work as a maid for a wealthy painter. No longer allowed to live at home, Griet moves in with the painter’s family. He is smitten with Griet despite his pregnant wife’s disapproval. Griet struggles to fulfill her work duties while everyone else resents her presence. I loved the ending of this story.

A maid, Griet, is sent to work in the household of the artist Vermeer. His large family depends on the sale of his paintings. Griet is allowed into his studio to clean and is intrigued by the paints, canvases, and lay models the artist uses. When her interest is discovered by Vermeer he teaches her the grinding of pigments and describes how he uses a camera obscura. In time she is bold enough to make compositional suggestions to him. Vermeer comes to rely on her a little too much and when given an advance, by a lascivious patron, of a… show more.

The setting for Tracy Chevalier’s book is the Dutch city of Delft in the 17th Century. The featured artist, Johannes Vermeer, is one of the most sublime and mysterious men in art history. He only left 36 paintings behind, but each one is a masterpiece and draws the view into the serene surroundings of his house. Chevalier merges history and fiction, as she imagines Vermeer’s sixteen-year-old maid, Griet, being chosen as the model for the painting of the Girl with the Pearl Earring. I like the female perspective of this book, written by a female author and with… show more.

Although we actually know very little about Vermeer, Tracy Chevalier imagines a context for his celebrated painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring. As a professor of early modern literature and culture, I was especially fascinated by the interplay of religions in this novel. Griet, who comes to work for the Vermeers as a servant, is Protestant, and she is scandalized by some of the sumptuous Catholic art she sees hidden away in the Vermeer home. Intrigued by her master’s paintings, Griet begins to serve him as an assistant and finally agrees to pose for him. Through her experiences, Chevalier… show more.

Chevalier transports her readers to a bygone time and place of art, inspiration, and sensuality. This is the story of the young subject of famed painter, Johannes Vermeer’s, most famous portrait. The book offers the reader a little slice of what life was like in Delft, Holland in the 1600s, and offers a very thoughtful perspective on the very flawed, complex, and human characters and relationships through the eyes of an insightful and intelligent 16-year-old girl.

What I loved about this book was that the atmosphere pervading it was so like the feeling I got from looking at Vermeer's paintings, including the title picture. It has a  quality of stillness and silence that makes you want to hold your breath. 

Griet's treatment at the hands of Vermeer's family isn't that much better than that meted out to most girls in her position, but you feel – more than usually – that the beauty surrounding her, compensated for it.  She might not have agreed of course.