Girl With A Pearl Earring

The 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's portrait, the anonymous
Girl With a Pearl Earring, lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's novel, an historical novel that doesn’t read like an historical novel.

The novel has a strong plot and engaging first-person narrative voice. It centres on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s but also the poorer household of the narrator’s family. Griet, the quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant and turmoil follows. Vermeer next employs her as his assistant -and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. He realises she has a painterly eye and an instinctive affinity emerges between the maid and the master. One character refers to her as “wide-eyed,” suggesting both her innocence and her keen vision. She understands Vermeer’s work better than anyone else in his family. She is able to speak to him more and more as an equal and give him advice:
“The colours fight when they are side by side, sir.”
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