Candy's Raves (and Rants)

84

This book had been languishing on my shelf for a while and someone from my bookclub choose it. No idea why I hadn’t read it before, just never got around to it I guess. There was a picture of a painting on the front which looked interesting but I hadn’t even read the description – someone told me it was good so I picked it up. (Yes, I do as I’m told a lot).

I guess I’m not all into art because I’d never heard of Vermeer and didn’t realize this was even historical fiction until the ending when the author made a note about the painting and painter. Oops! So, there you have. I ain’t got all that much culture, I suppose

At any rate, I really enjoyed the book. It was an easy read, the words flowed nicely off of the page and it all came together nicely – or at least how it must have in the end, I suppose. I was intrigued by this time period though. It seemed that maids basically belonged to the household, not quite indentured, as a recent read of mine called Bound by Sally Gunning, but almost like they had no choice but to put up with the “master” and “mistresses” crap. I felt bad for Griet, she seemed to want so much more out of life.

I wonder… in the end, did she ultimately get what she wanted out of life? What was expected? What did she want? While it was written from her point of view, I felt like I wasn’t given enough insight into her thoughts. It was more about her actions. I felt like I wanted to hear more inner dialogue from her.

Overall? A good book to read and I expect that our conversation will be great for book club on this one!

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From the author’s website:

One of the best-loved paintings in the world is a mystery. Who is the model and why has she been painted? What is she thinking as she stares out at us? Are her wide eyes and enigmatic half-smile innocent or seductive? And why is she wearing a pearl earring?

Girl With a Pearl Earring tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-old Dutch girl who becomes a maid in the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer. Her calm and perceptive manner not only helps her in her household duties, but also attracts the painter’s attention. Though different in upbringing, education and social standing, they have a similar way of looking at things. Vermeer slowly draws her into the world of his paintings – the still, luminous images of solitary women in domestic settings.

In contrast to her work in her master’s studio, Griet must carve a place for herself in a chaotic Catholic household run by Vermeer’s volatile wife Catharina, his shrewd mother-in-law Maria Thins, and their fiercely loyal maid Tanneke. Six children (and counting) fill out the household, dominated by six-year-old Cornelia, a mischievous girl who sees more than she should.

On the verge of womanhood, Griet also contends with the growing attentions both from a local butcher and from Vermeer’s patron, the wealthy van Ruijven. And she has to find her way through this new and strange life outside the loving Protestant family she grew up in, now fragmented by accident and death.

As Griet becomes part of her master’s work, their growing intimacy spreads disruption and jealousy within the ordered household and even – as the scandal seeps out – ripples in the world beyond.