Girl With a Pearl Earring

Girl with a Pearl Earring —by Tracy Chevalier

Fiction / Historical

240 pages / 506 kb

5 Stars

After all the hype, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. I've read, and enjoyed at various levels her other books, save one which I just can't get into, so I decided to read this one. I still like The Last Runaway best, but maybe because it was the first of her books I read?

If you want a nitty gritty history of Vermeer, or life in his place and time, this probably isn't for you. I'm not sure how historically accurate this book is, but it's a fun read, and I do believe she has done some homework.

My classification of this book is Brain Candy, and every so often, I enjoy brain candy, especially when fairly well written.

I can understand why the wife would not like Griet. Griet is young, innocent, beautiful, and a servant. The other servant is old, ugly, and no competition or threat. I can understand why the wife would never want to wear the earrings again, and why her husband gave them away when he died (via a will). Why did Vermeer not paint his family? Perhaps as he says in the book, because they could not sit still. Perhaps no one would want to buy them. It is my understanding that many artists ground their own pigments to get them the way they wanted, that it was not usually something entrusted to a lowly servant. I may be wrong on that, but if so, then it was a sign of respect that Griet was allowed to do it. And, again, possibly his family had wanted to, and for whatever reason didn't do it right?

Though these characters are not deep, they are satisfying, especially if read for what it is, a novel. A made-up story. If you want adrenalin, read someone else's books. If you want a satisfying read that isn't racing hither and yon, read Tracy Chevalier.