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Summary: BEAUTIFUL AND TOUCHING
Review: In 17th century Holland, 16-year-old Griet is involuntary sent to work as a maid due to her father's occupational accident that left him blind and unemployed. Strings were pulled and she went to live in the Vermeer residence. Griet's beauty and grace catches the eye of Mr. Vermeer, the famous painter, and she eventually becomes his assistant against the wishes of her mistress. As the narrative unfolds Griet must balance her work obligations to her mistress and her fascination with her master and his craft. She is successful in her deceit until her master asks her to pose for the infamous painting that is displayed on this book's cover. After the painting is finished Griet's secret becomes common knowledge in the household and she will have to pay the consequences.I remained fully enchanted while reading THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. It is written in such a fantastic and splendid manner that I felt drawn into the pages. The life of a maid during these times was very interesting. In addition, I was captivated by the procedure for extracting the colors for painting that Griet assisted in. It's amazing how times have changed! I am giving a copy of this book to my mother as a gift as I'm sure she will enjoy it as much as I have.
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Summary: Another startlingly inspiring art novel
Review: For anyone who paints or draws, there are certain novels that awake the spirit of the artist, that arouse the passion and inspire the soul. _Girl With A Pearl Earring_ is one of them. Here we are not only introduced to the wonderful character of Griet, but we learn so much about the technique and grueling process of great painting and the life of Vermeer. The novel is gritty, heart-wrenching, and incredibly beautiful and elegant. An extremely classy book that comes highly recommended. I would also recommend that the book be read with some resource to Vermeer's paintings at hand, to understand what's being spoken of in several of the book's descriptions of paintings. I usually write more but it's half past midnight and I ought to go to bed. All I have to say is that the book is a relatively quick read, but that does not effect the way the novel moves the soul, particularly the creative one. It is a beauty of a novel, as rich with texture and eerie realism as the paintings of Vermeer himself.
Rating:
Summary: Girl with the Pearl Earring
Review: Go back to a time when the classic painters were honing their talents, and you find yourself immersed in this beautiful novel that is a sort-of biography of Vermeer. After reading this book, I felt I knew all his secrets for producing his beautiful paintings filled with light. The story is seen in the eyes of a young servant girl who later becomes the subject of the title painting. Her feelings as a girl maturing into a young woman are heart wrenching. Well worth reading!
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Summary: Beautiful Paintings and Beautiful Writing
Review: I have to admit that I was very skeptical about this book. I had heard a lot of people in various book clubs saying that they had really enjoyed it. When I found it in my library I decided to give it a try even though it is not usually the genre that I try.
It did take me a little while to get into, but once I got into it I could hardly put it down. Griet is an unforgettable character. She is mature in some ways, but very naive in others. She is strong, but at the same time very weak. I felt that she was a well-defined character and very complex.
The setting and descriptions were unforgettable. Chevalier used so many ways to decribe ordinary things that I could just picture everything in my head. The scenery and paintings were exquisite.
The only problem that I have is the character of Vermeer. He just wasn't as drawn out as I felt that he could be. I knew nothing of him before I read this book, so that could be just based on his personality, I don't know. There is just not enough background information on him to really make the reader appreciate his talent. Maybe you as the reader weren't supposed to, I don't know.
Overall, I was really impressed with this book. The images are some that I will remember for a long time to come. Chevalier weaved a wonderful story and I will definitely try her again!
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Summary: a reader from ca
Review: Well, as far as I'm concerned, I thought this book was interesting as well as facinating. I first came here to amazon.com to find a book for my new class book report. I asked for historical fiction and a handfull of books popped up. Only, this was the one that caught my eye. I read a couple of reviews and the excerpt and decided to try it out. Now, I'm not the kind of person who would read a historical fiction but this one was great. I found it interesting, not boreing at all. It was very mezmerizing and I could never put it down. I finished in a week and told all my friends about it. They too were hooked.
Rating: 
Summary: an ok read
Review: I picked up this book because I had read other books by this author and enjoyed them. THis book was the same--a very fast read, easy, if somewhat implausible story, and an interesting story idea. Vermeer's household hires a new maid, Griet, to clean his studio and help around the house. Griet has "wide-set eyes" that seem to attract attention from everyone. Vermeer becomes entranced with having her sit for him for a portrait--"Girl with Pearl Earring." This is a story that shows what might have happened, or what moved Vermeer to paint this picture. It's ok, but not spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Piece
Review: This book was a such a delight to read and is one of the few that I highly recommend to friends. I usually don't write these reviews in such a forum, but after seeing a negative interpretation of this work, I felt it my responsibility to a fellow author to stand for their work. The book is entertaining and offers a glimpse into the existence of a brilliant and remarkable painter. The author does a splendid job with character development while allowing the reader refreshing liberty to explain and/or relate to situational circumstance. Most of us read to be entertained and are not concerned with having every minute detail explained in the fullest. If that were solely the case, we would stay far away from the arena that is fiction. As for the negative criticism, all will never be pleased, but this particular work does please the masses without the pompous flair that is so evident in supposed 'great' works of the day. Spend a rainy afternoon with this 'Master of Light' and his lovable assistant, two people from a different class who share the same respectful class (hint for Mr. Negativity).
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Summary: Life imitating Art
Review: Rich with visual imagery and a arresting plot, this book draws the reader into a world of 17th century Dutch art, class relations, love and hate. "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is a beautifully crafted work of fiction based around the painting of the same name by artist Johannes Vermeer. Griet, the 16-year-old narrator, becomes a servant of the Vermeer household after her family is unable to support her. Her innate sense of composition, colour and orderliness is recogised by the aritst, and their relationship blossoms under the eye of his watchful mother-in-law and jealous wife. I enjoyed this simple story for the way in which the words seemed to step out off the page and form detailed pictures in my mind. It was fascinating to see a story constructed around this famous painting which was believable yet unpredictable. Beautifully told, this book would be enjoyed by those who liked Chevalier's "The Virgin Blue" or simply those who like a good read!
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Summary: Loved this book!
Review: My husband and I both loved this book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Plot Does Not Make Sense and Not Believable
Review: The basic elements of this story make no sense and are never explained. Why is it a secret and a big deal that Griet has been given the task of grinding pigments for her employer, Vermeer? Grinding pigments was part of the daily work of the household, something a servant would have been expected to do. The author, Chevalier, never suggests any reason. Why should the wife, Katarina, go beserk when she learns that Griet has been sitting for a painting and wearing her pearl earrings while doing it? The other maid had already been in a painting (the famous 'Woman with a Pitcher') so that could not have been any surprise or outrage. Half of Vermeer's paintings are of women wearing what Chevalier supposes was Katarina's yellow ermine-edged shawl, and her rope of pearls. Why should she have had any problem with the same thing again? Again Chevalier has no idea and proposes none. Since, in the story the painting is commissioned by the patron Van Ruiven specifically because he is in lust with Griet, and Van Ruiven specified who he wanted in it, Katarina's fury makes no sense at all. Finally Vermeer's gift to Griet by will of the pearl earrings, "each as large as a hazelnut", and even larger in the painting, is not believable. Vermeer would have known that, now ten years on, Griet was married and well-provided for. He would have known too that his eleven children were going to be in poverty when he died. That he would have given away immensely valuable pearls to a former maid, even one he had some feelings for, is not to be believed. Based on the internals of the narrative, the earring weren't even his to give. They belonged to his wife. Nor are these minor details. The story line and the ending revolve around them. Peripheral plot failures can be overlooked. Central ones cannot.
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