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A Few Initial and Not-Comprehensive Meditations on Group Novels

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:

Jeane, March 16, 2008 (view all comments by Jeane)
A fictional account of Johannes Vermeer's household, told through the eyes of a young maid, Griet. Vermeer puts her to work in his private studio, cleaning and doing rudimentary preparations for his paintings (like grinding pigments). The continual mundane labor of Griet's days is described in a slow, poetic fashion against building emotional friction in the household. Griet alone is privledged to enter the master's sacrosanct studio, and pretty enough that one day Vermeer asks her to pose for him. Eventually the novel builds into a tense household drama and scandal, over the painting of one of Vermeer's most famous portraits.

Griet is something of an anomaly. She is very quiet, observant, and hardworking, but also (for an uneducated maid) surprisingly outspoken and forward-thinking. Much of the book is about the slow awakening of her intellect and spirit. My only complaint is the lack of illustrations; I would have liked to see the paintings as I read about them.

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zapper9327, October 6, 2007 (view all comments by zapper9327)
This is the best historical novel I have ever read.

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stevenlight, August 18, 2006 (view all comments by stevenlight)
This gifted author weaves a mesmerizing tale around Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer's most famous painting, creating an incandescent and luminous work of her own. His painting is a simple, though enigmatic, portrait of a girl with a pearl earring, about which little is known. The author, however, a born storyteller, creates a living, breathing story around it, using a singular, first person narrative. Told in spare, elegant prose, the author leaps into literary renown with this book.
The events in the book are viewed through the eyes of Griet, a sixteen year old Dutch girl, whose changed family circumstances force her into taking a position as a maid in the home of a renowned painter, the taciturn Johannes Vermeer. There, the painter resides with his tempestuous wife, Catharina, their brood of unruly children, his commanding and shrewd mother-in-law, Maria Thins, and their loyal housekeeper and cook, Tanneke. The author lovingly details seventeenth century life in the Dutch city of Delft. It is here that Griet's story unfolds.
Sensitive and perceptive, Griet is attuned to the under currents in the Vermeer household and, at first, takes care not to draw attention to herself. Still, she, the daughter of a tile painter, is curious about Vermeer's artistry and is drawn to his work and his methods. Vermeer, sensing a kindred artistic spirit in Griet, draws her into his world of paint, color, light, and beauty, creating an intimacy of the spirit between the two.
Still, Griet, a girl on the brink of becoming a woman, finds herself confused and breathlessly desiring more than she may have. Her longing for more than a communion of the spirit with Vermeer is palpable. It is, therefore, not surprising that the undercurrents in the Vermeer household should come bubbling to the surface and engulf Griet, much to her consternation.
This is a stunning literary work that fully realizes the promise that the author showed in her debut novel, "The Virgin Blue". She is an author that understands the less is often more, and she makes every word count. Deliberate and spare, her prose is lyrical in its simplicity, weaving a tale that will keep the reader spellbound. This is historical fiction at its finest.
Also recommended: Conversation with Spinoza by Goce Smilevski, In the Company of the Courtesan
by Sarah Dunant.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780452282155

Author:

Chevalier, Tracy

Publisher:

Plume Books

Location:

New York

Subject:

General

Subject:

Literary

Subject:

Historical

Subject:

Historical - General

Subject:

Historical fiction

Subject:

Netherlands

Subject:

17th century

Subject:

Women domestics

Subject:

Artists' models

Subject:

Biographical fiction

Subject:

Delft

Copyright:

2001

Series Volume:

no. 41

Publication Date:

January 8, 2001

Binding:

Paperback

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

240

Dimensions:

774x520x65 46