Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Ria

In 1660s, Griet was living with her parents and sister. Her father had an accident at a tile factory, where he worked, causing him to become blind. Since there was no income, and her parents wouldn't accept charity, Griet was forced to become a maid at the house of a Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer.

Griet's welcome wasn't very friendly. Vemeer's wife, Catharina, didn't like her. Her daughter, Cornelia, didn't like her either, making Griet's life somtimes impossible. One of Griet's jobs was to go to the market. At the butchers, she met Pieter.

Another job she had was cleaning Vermeer's studio. Soon, Vermeer's asked her to work for him, like grinding objects to make paint. She becomes his assistant, along with doing her other chores, leaving her no time for herself except on Sundays. It was on Sundays that Pieter came to her house and had lunch with her family.

Van Ruijven, a wealthy man who usually bought Vermeer's paintings, took a liking to Griet and asked her to pose with him. But he wasn't an honorable man, so Vermeer and his mother in law did everything possible to avoid Griet from spending time with him. To make up for it, Van Ruijven asked for a painting of Griet.

Before the painting was finished, Vermeer thought that there was something missing. He then wanted Griet to wear Catharina's pearl earring. Griet didn't want to because Catharing already hated her. When the painting was done, Catharina found out about it and Griet ran away. She goes to Pieter and marries him.

I thought that this was a really good historical fiction book. It told a lot about the life and times of a Dutch painter and a maid at that time period. It was almost as if you could picture the time square and other parts of the city. Some of the Dutch names were hard to pronounce though. Apparently, Girl with a Pearl Earring was one of Vermeer's famous paintings, but I don't remember seeing it. Now, I want to see his paintings, especially after reading the book.