Rating: 
Summary: Stunning!
Review: Of all the fiction that has come out recently featuring Vermeer or Vermeer paintings, this was my favorite. I don't know how she did it, but somehow the author's prose seems to be a reflection of the paintings themselves. The charged relationship between the fictional Vermeer and the servant girl (the narrator of the story) was very convincing. It also made clear that the options of women during this era, even those with interest and talent, were claustrophobically limited. Although I usually don't care for fictionalized versions of historical figures, this book rang very true.
Rating:
Summary: Another Time
Review: This was the most intriguing book I've read in some time. I couldn't put it down. It put me right into the life of the 15th century character. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fresh plot and a little history around the working class as well as the wealthy class attitudes of a distant time.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read
Review: As a lover of art and a current major in art history I picked up this book to read for a flight to California. Little did I know how enthralling and captivating Chevalier's story of Griet and her master Vermeer would be. I ended up starting and finishing the book just on the flight to LA, I had to find something else to read on the way home.Chevalier does a fantastic job in creating a fictional story behind Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and the reader is left thinking about whether it could possibly be true or not. I certainly wished it were true because it is such a wonderful and intriguing story. A great read!
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: I can only imagine how inspired Tracy Chevalier was to create an entire story around Vermeer's painting. Her characterizations were amazing considering how short the book is. Griet was so young yet her life made her grow up fast and learn how to make things work to her advantage....at least to the best advantage she could as a poor maid. I enjoyed Griet, respected her and felt sorry for her. I wish the book had been longer to delve deeper into all the issues that were brought to light. But since this book is based on a painting that is all the story that was needed.
Rating:
Summary: A gem of a story
Review: This book not only gives life, albeit fictional, to the artist Vermeer and to his well known portrait, it also brings the reader into a delightful story of a young woman in Delft whose family has fallen on hard times which seems to redirect her entire life as she is forced to become a maid. The triumph in the story is her ability to take on this new role, but not successfully enough to give up her dignity and self esteem. I found it also to be a marvelous illustration of the passion one can fuel with imagination as a young woman, and the reality one finds with age.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite -
Review: There was a time when I thought I might be an art historian
or an art critic - then I discovered that I was an artist, and
began to dislike art analysis - which I came to think
of as irrelevant. And I became amused by
the novelization of artists' lives, because there, too, I felt
the artist was secondary to the work. However, this book is, truly, a pearl...it captures beautifully the concept of how a work of art is conceived...of how the
artist's imagination is separate from his or her every day life. I was particularly gratified that the author "got" that an artist
will rarely use those closest to him/her as subject matter.
And that can be a no-win situation. I know wives and lovers
who have appeared in the artist's works, and they are angered overexposure. And then there are others,
like Vermeer's wife in this story, who are jealous of their mates' muses. That is just one of the dilemmas of an artist shown in this novel. I loved the simplicity, the setting, the characters, the details. It made 17th Century Delft come alive. They say a movie is being made of the book. I thought that Uma Thurman would be perfect as Madame Vermeer.
Rating:
Summary: Great little story
Review: I didn't want this book to end. I don't usually read fiction, but this was such a sweet, intense story. If you like art and are familiar with Vermeer, I think you'll enjoy the book. Chevalier takes us right into the life of a girl in the Netherlands in the 1660's. Religion, class structure and art make up the protagonist's existence. She learns how to mix paints in a rather clandestine situation and then sits as a model for Vermeer. She learns about the cruelties of social divisions and the pain of love. Great little book.
Rating:
Summary: a great easy read
Review: I just picked up this book at a bookstore, and couldn't stop reading. Had to buy it then, of course. It's a great easy read, it's fun, and it's inspiring, and it's beautifully written. Don't expect to re-read it over and over, but expect a very enjoyable read you'll want to share with your friends and family.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was really excited when I first saw this book. I had always thought that a story drawn from an actual work of art would make a great novel. This, unfortunately, was very disappointing. The story's main character was stereotyped and shallow. Chevalier gave the girl no depth or personality. Also, Vermeer's explanations to her were elementary and gave little insight into how he worked as an artist. I wouldn't recommend reading this.
Rating:
Summary: Simple yet richly satisifying
Review: Marvelous descriptions, delightful characterizations, flow of plot and the nice, not quite unexpected twist at the end, more, Tracy, please! Namste, Nancy Davison
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