Reviews with content warning for Death - Girl with a Pearl Earring

A lovely book that imagines the life of Vermeer’s model in his most memorable painting, and what her relationship might have been like with the painter.

I really liked that the book was told in the first person and the reader sees Griet, Vermeer’s wife’s maid and his model, grow into herself as a young woman. Within the confines of her circumstances, Griet does what she can to have a measure of independence, even if sometimes that independence is only in her unconventional thoughts. She’s a lonely young girl who is on her own when she first arrives at the Vermeer’s and she learns to use that isolation as a shield.

I loved the attention to small quotidian details - taking a pail to the market for the meat or the fish and starching her cap by soaking it with potato peels. I liked the comparison the life of a lower class tile painter vs that of a well-to-do portrait painter. I loved watching Griet as she learned to really see, and her failed attempts to explain the the different colors of white to her father.

This is a wonderful story, well-told, and a fascinating look at mid-17th C Holland.

Content Warnings

spinesinaline's review against another edition

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informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It’s an interesting story, offering a fictionalized series of events behind the famous painting that shares a name with the book. I enjoyed the history and think the author did an excellent job with her research on the artist and family as well as Dutch history and the specifics of painting in the 1600s. However I found it a very slow read and while the comments on the lack of independence and freedom for women is certainly true, I didn’t find the addition of assault and harassment to this unknown woman’s life necessary.

Content Warnings