Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Amanda D.


Griet is a sixteen-year old girl who lives in the 1600's Delft. To raise money for her family, she becomes a housemaid to the painter Johannes Vermeer and his wife, mother-in-law and children. After a few weeks of cleaning his art room, he teaches her how to mix the paints for him. One day while she is cleaning, he notices how she would be a good model. Secretly, he paints her in different cleaning poses. She develops feelings for him and he for her. He then wants her to pierce her ear and wear his wife's earring for a painting. Problems arise later. There is also the butcher's son who Griet starts to date.

I like this book because it teaches me about another time and place. It is a good interpretation of a story through a sixteen-year old girl's eyes and how she is feeling. I like the romance.