Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, Book Review

Girl with a Pearl Earring: A Novel

Do you love art? Perhaps you've heard of the famous piece, Girl With a Pearl Earring, by the artist Johannes Vermeer. I hadn't known about him before I took a grammar course where the professor used Tracy Chevalier's book, Girl With a Pearl Earring, to teach the course.

The grammar course is an excellent one. And the book used to teach the course intrigued me. What I liked most was the inventiveness of the author and her creative spirit. Not much is known about the artist, Johannes Vermeer, so authors such as Tracy Chevalier and Susan Vreeland have re-imagined his life, based on extensive research on what life was like in Delft in the 1660s for someone in his position.

Both authors have presented their findings in their respective novels, Girl With a Pearl Earring: A Novel, and Girl in Hyacinth Blue.

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Big Lessons from Girl With a Pearl Earring

• You'll never have all the information you need to make a decision, but you can make reasonable assumptions.
• Research is a big part of the problem solving and decision making process.
• Information gathering is usually the first stage of most creativity models.
• Add a bit of imagination to the work you do and see what happens.
• Connect life to what you know. I learned about Johannes Vermeer taking the grammar course and by reading both Girl With a Pearl Earring and Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Then I came across an exhibit about his life and work. Both events enhanced my knowledge.

Book Pairing

Girl with a Pearl EarringGirl in Hyacinth Blue

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Initial Thoughts on Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

This post focuses on the book, Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Besides being an enjoyable book, Girl With a Pearl Earring demonstrates creativity. There were gaps in the information on Johannes Vermeer, yet both authors recreated the artist's life, making reasonable assumptions. And that's very important because every day employees have to solve complex problems at work. They will never have all the information, yet it's important to generate creative solutions.

While I was in Dallas, I visited the Dallas Museum of Art and they had a Vermeer Suite. I was quite delighted.

Have you read?

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, Book Review

What is Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier About?

Circumstances can change at the drop of a hat – the death of a spouse, the loss of a job, or even a change in relationship status. For the main character, 16-year-old Griet in Tracy Chevalier’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, her father loses his ability to work and support his family after a kiln explosion damages his eyes. Her younger brother Frans is working as an apprentice to become a tile maker, but she has to now support her family.

Griet’s family sinks further into poverty after the accident, and she has to work as a maid for Johannes Vermeer and his family. In Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, the reader sees how people are treated differently based on their class and vocation.

Although Johannes Vermeer can barely support his ever-expanding family, when his “household helpers,” Tanneke or Griet purchases goods at the market or the apothecary for the family, they are allowed to put it on an account in his name. That’s one of the perks of class privilege.

Johannes Vermeer and his family live with Maria Thins, his mother-in-law, who is quite shrewd financially, and the one who negotiates the price for his paintings. Vermeer is poor because although he is an excellent painter, he produces only two works of art each year. Catharina, his wife, does not like Griet, because she is able to clean her husband’s studio, and she is not allowed to enter the room.

Although I sympathize with Griet because of the situation she is in, I find her to be much too pliable. And that may very well be a sign of the times. Vermeer has placed her in too many awkward situations and she seldom speaks up. For instance, he asks Griet to be his assistant because he discovers that she has an eye for art. He asks Griet to grind the bones to make paint, and he shows her how to do it.

But he never tells Catharina that he is giving the maid extra duties to perform. As a result, Griet has to rise earlier and go to bed later to perform all her duties. She does it without complaining because she likes it much more than she likes being a maid.

Johannes Vermeer is an aloof character in Girl with a Pearl Earring, however, every so often, when he senses interest from Griet, he takes the time to explain what he is doing. He works with a sense of purpose, which wins him the maid’s approval. She hero worships him and ultimately falls in love with him, a situation that does not end well. Because Griet is such a keen student, she is able to recommend improvements to commissioned artwork. And she is also able to anticipate some of the changes Vermeer will make to improve his work.

Vermeer's wealthy but lecherous patron, Van Ruijven, notices Griet’s innocence and beauty, and pressures the artist to paint him with the maid. But instead, Vermeer paints Griet alone. Maria Thins secretly takes her daughter’s pearl earrings for Griet to wear while being painted. The result is the now famous artwork Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague since 1902.

Catharina discovers the painting of Griet wearing her pearl earrings and is furious. Neither Vermeer nor Maria Thins come to her rescue. Griet has no choice but to leave her employer, and she does so leaving her belongings behind. She goes to young Pieter the butcher, who has proposed to her and the two marry. The reader doesn’t get the sense that Griet is in love with her husband, but she loves her two sons.

Ten years after leaving the employ of Johannes Vermeer, the artist dies young and in debt. The Vermeer family’s circumstances have altered and Catharina has to sell the paintings to settle debts. He wills the pearl earrings to Griet, who has to return to the house she left, one more time. But this time, she is a very different woman, one who is more confident and self-assured.

She accepts the pearl earrings. But sells them shortly after, to pay off the debt that Vermeer owed her father-in-law. She receives 20 guilders for the earrings, hides five, which she will never use. Paying off Vermeer’s 15 guilder debt to her father-in-law gives Griet freedom because he always tells her that the 15 guilders is the price he and his son paid to get her.

Final Thoughts on Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Girl With a Pearl Earring: A Novel by Tracy Chevalier is a coming of age story. Griet narrates the story, which is told in the point of view of a young uneducated girl. The author tells the story using short sentences and simple vocabulary. In the book, the author makes a link between visual experience and self-consciousness. Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is historical fiction at its finest, and the author is able to take readers back to the 17^th century so that they can experience what life was like back then.

The most accomplished people read books every day. They carve out the time in their schedule. When they face a problem, they often find the solution embedded in the pages of a book. Let me help you to solve your own problems. Click the link MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World to buy.

Additional Vermeer Resources

If you're interested in Johannes Vermeer take some time to visit the website, Essential Vermeer. It will take a lot of time to go through all the information and links on the website. Additionally, Google Arts & Culture has put together a great website to explore, that focuses on Vermeer.

 Girl with a Pearl Earring Girl in Hyacinth Blue Girl with a Pearl Earring: A Novel EXHIBITION ON SCREEN: GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer Journal Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis

Tracy Chevalier Book List

 Burning Bright: A Novel Falling Angels: A Novel The Virgin Blue: A Novel The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel At the Edge of the Orchard: A Novel The Last Runaway: A Novel Remarkable Creatures: A Novel A Single Thread: A Novel Carnegie's Maid: A Novel Violet

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UPDATE:  First Published October 2014