Page Nine

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Chevalier owns a copy of Johannes Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. She became quite fascinated with the look the girl gives in the portrait: at times vulnerable, seductive, happy, and sad. She began to speculate who the girl was and decided that it was a servant in the Vermeer household. She named the servant Griet, and began to write the story around how Vermeer's famous 1665 portrait was created. Combining both historical fact and fiction (much of the latter, as not much is known about Vermeer and basically nothing is known about the girl in the portrait), Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring is engaging in a simple, somewhat slow-moving way. It definately piqued my interest in Vermeer's other paintings mentioned in the book, and I almost felt a little sad that Griet never actually existed. I do think Chevalier's story is quite plausible, however, which is what makes the book as engaging as it is.