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Summary: Coming to a middle school near you...
Review: There is a lot that is wrong with this book. The subtleties of language that some speak of when praising this book are imagined. In fact, the writing style is far too simplistic, underdeveloped and unengaging to keep the reader's interest. It's not subtext - it's weak writing. The main character is also rather weak - the heroine, a young girl named Griet, is basically a Dutch Cinderella as the new maid in the house of Vermeer. But everything that she is subjected to, which amounts mostly to the childish and dysfunctional bickerings of other members of the household, isn't greeted with resourcefulness but rather with stone-faced staring and "there was nothing I could do". Too much of the book, even though it is a fast read, is bogged down with this pettiness and the reader is left begging for something interesting to happen. The character confides in almost no one (not even her family, for whom which she's doing all this) which is more a statement about her character defects and inability to trust than it is about the situation she's in. The first time I sympathized with this character is about a third of the way into the book (way too late) when a member of her family dies from plague. But, since there was little interaction between Griet and that character that the reader saw for himself/herself, even that wasn't very convincing. The only characters of interest are Maria Thins (Vermeer's mother-in-law) and Vermeer himself. But we see almost nothing of Vermeer for the first third of the book. Amazon's review contains the phrase "Still, Girl with a Pearl Earring does contain a final delicious twist." Not in my copy - I found the ending very predictable and emotionally unsatisfying. On the plus side, Chevalier does pull off an interesting symbol with the knife that Griet drops in the opening of the book (the one that spins on the kitchen floor). But in a book about an artist, it's not nearly enough, especially contra a deluge of obvious metaphors. Yes, there is the defense that this is the voice of a young girl and the language shouldn't be very developed. But look at a character like Faulkner's Vardaman (As I Lay Dying) - here's a five-year-old in possession of an intellect that is simultaneously advanced and childlike, that weaves childhood thoughts with deep and powerful psychological impact. Nothing of the sort exists in Girl With a Pearl Earring- it's more a book to be read by teenagers than it is one to be read by adults, and will undoubtedly be a favorite in middle-school English classes in the near future.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and enlightening!
Review: I found Girl with a Pearl Earring to a very entertaining story as well as educational. I have never studied art history but found myself drawn into the story of Vermeer and the possible events that led to his painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. Enlightening but not stuffy...I couldn't put it down. I will read more by Chevalier.
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Summary: Vermeer Lite
Review: Not bad, if you want to spend the time of a (short) airplane trip and you can't fly with knitting needles anymore, but really! A servant girl who can tell what is missing from an unfinished portrait -- who knows better than Vermeer what one touch is needed to make a portrait whole? Forget this, forget "Girl in Hyacinth Blue", and find "The Flanders Panel".
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Summary: A Good Idea, But...
Review: As someone who is amazed by Vermeer's work, and who wanted more after seeing his works in the "Delft School" exhibit at the Met, I picked up"Girl" to read on the plane. Although the idea is very unique - fictionalizing the story of a girl in a Vermeer painting - the execution falls short. Chevalier's writing is pretty trite and not very unique. i found myself rolling my eyes far too often at suggestions that this little girl gave The Master ideas on how to paint, such as putting a cloth across a table, etc. If you are annoyed by simplistic portraits and VERY SHORT sentences such as "The day was ending. The sun was almost set." don't bother with this book. Yes, it will help you pass the time (about 2 hours) but why not be enlightened by great or even very good writing instead?
Rating: 
Summary: Lights and Shadows in Life and Arts
Review: Tracy Chevalier creates a convincing, enthralling portrait of fictitious Griet, a sixteen-year-old poor protestant maid who works for the affluent catholic family of celebrated painter Johannes Vermeer in order to sustain her poverty-stricken family. Griet progressively metamorphoses herself economically and socially into a well-balanced woman who does the best with the little (power) she has in the male, stratified Dutch society of the seventeenth century. Girl with a Pearl Earring is perhaps more importantly an invitation to (re) discover the city of Delft that has preserved both its charm and cachet despite the torments of time and the artistic genie of one of her most famous sons.
Rating: 
Summary: A great property for Merchant Ivory ...
Review: but a little thin for a novel. I've heard people rave about this book, and it is a charming little story, quite lovingly written. I understand why some readers have responded so enthusiastically to this and the spate of other novels that have come out recently that involve Dutch painters. Others are "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" about a fictional Vermeer painting, "Johanna", about the widow of Van Gogh's brother and even "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" which includes a character referred to as 'the Master' (really the best of the bunch). It seems a little mean-spirited to criticize this book too harshly because I enjoyed it too, but the story is small, and the characters' concerns are uber-domestic. Even the writing is simplistic, verging on Hemingwayesque, not a plus. I'd give it a B-, and since somebody has probably already optioned the rights to it, I recommend waiting for the movie.
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Summary: A Famous Painting is Brought To Life
Review: Tracy Chevalier's novel, _Girl With A Pearl Earring_ is fascinating for many reasons. The beautiful young girl in the painting is breathtakingly fresh,wise and innocent. It is these qualities that have been brought to life in the novel. Chevalier shapes the mystery of who the young girl might have been into a believable plot. Utilizing the little known facts about the famous artist,Vermeer, the author breathes life to the skeletal background. She has also carefully researched life during the 1600's. I love the style of the writing, simple like the painting. I love the imagery used and the characterization of family members. When a novel forces the reader to search the internet for Vermeer's paintings, it becomes more than a reading experience. I love the fact that this then becomes an interdisciplary task, forcing the reader to carefully view all of the paintings mentioned in the text. Tracy Chevalier will be studied by many students in colleges and high schools in the future. The novel is as rich as the painting, and readers are indebted to the author for providing us with a plausible scenario. Griet is a true literary heroine, and one can only hope that the model for the painting was as wise and beautiful (inside and out) as the character that has been created by this talented author.
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Summary: Really enjoyed this book
Review: This book is a look into what life might have been like as a servant in an artist's home. Tracy Chevalier has a way of painting a picture in the words and descriptions she uses that is mesmerizing. A wonderful book if you are the least bit interested in art.
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Summary: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Review: Girl with a Pear Earring is a very exciting story about a young girl, Greit, who becomes a maid for the artist Vermeer when her father was hurt in an accident. Griet is a protestant and is going to work for a catholic family, which makes her uncomfortable at first because she is worried about the diffrent ways they do things. She doesnt fit in to well with the family. Corneila the oldest daughter is a brat, who doesnt like Griet, and throughout the novel gets her into trouble. Greit become closer and closer to her Master Vermeer, and ends up being almost an assistant to him. He allows her to do many things for him that he would never let other people do, even his on family. The family is jealous of Griet because she gets to do things they do not such as: clean the studio, go in the studio, and help make paint. Part of Griets chores is to go get meat from the butcher every day. While getting meat Griet and Pieter, the butchers son become quite fond of each other, and in the end they are married. This was a great novel, and while I was reading it, it took me into a diffrent time and place. The characters in the story were very realistic and vivid. This was a very intresting book, and I highly reccomend it.
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Summary: a fabulous read!!
Review: When I first bought Girl with a Pearl Earring, I thought it was going to be just another historical fiction book...nothing more. How wrong I was! When Griet, the protagonist, goes to work at Vermeer's house I wondered what was going to happen. I quickly found out. Besides getting herself into one awkward predicament after another, she meets a very original cast of characters. There's Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, who is a very intimidating woman...or so she seems, Vermeer's wife, Catharina, who is pregnant most of the time, the butcher's son and of course, Vermeer himself. Vermeer is portrayed wonderfully. I thought that if I had ever met Vermeer he would act exactly as Tracy Chevalier had made him act. This book goes by faster than you will want it to. I guarantee that after you read this you will never look at a Vermeer painting in the same way again!
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