Rating: 
Summary: A beautifully crafted novel : resonant and quietly powerful
Review: For those who have just discovered Tracy Chevalier's "Girl With A Pearl Earring (GWAPE)", let it be known that it isn't a movie tie-in but indeed the fine source book for the screen version currently shown on the cinema circuit. Modesty, restraint and austerity typifies the tone of this vividly imagined tale of Dutch painter Vermeer's portrait of a maiden now known forever as the "girl with a pearl earring". Though its author has declared the novel to be a work of fiction, such is the resonance and quiet power radiating from the heart of this simple tale I can't see how readers (and moviegoers) are ever going to regard the novel as anything other than being based on a true story. This is only Chevalier's second novel and already she has made her mark on the literary scene with a wonderful little book that is simply for keeps.Chevalier's precise, stripped down yet luminous prose conjures a mental picture of 17th Century Holland so vivid it stays like a painting in your mind's eye. Like the everyday material painter Vermeer works with in his studio, colours, shades and hues feature prominently in the language. Chevalier's characters are also never less than sharp or finely etched. Our heroine and subject, Gret, may be outwardly subservient as befits the times but she has fire in her belly. She is clearly no wimp underneath. Catharina, the master's wife, may be the story's most odious character but she is also its most pitiable. She's bad tempered, surly, untidy, clumsy and graceless. Her husband won't paint her or even allow her to enter his studio because she's so ungainly and incongruous with the beauty he's trying to capture on canvas. She's bitterly jealous and suspicious of the lowly maid her husband secretly paints because she knows she herself is only good to him as a breeder. Or Maria Thins, the conniving mother-in-law who doesn't miss a beat or betray a conscience when she pimps shamelessly to guarantee bread on the family's table. The devilish Cornelia - a changeling child if ever there was one - is another unforgettable character. The character of the master painter Vermeer, silent and a ghostly figure at the edge of a scene most of the time, is deliberately underwritten but nevertheless articulately defined by his gestures. At the centre of the novel is Gret's unrequited love for her master which is expressed most touchingly in the suffering she endures for him. Most tellingly, she withholds physical intimacy with her butcher suitor, young Pieter, until AFTER she has allowed her master to see her without her scarf on. In her own mind, she has saved her "virginity" for the beloved master whom she knows she could never have, so when Gret finally permits her suitor whom she doesn't love to take rough liberties with her, the act becomes a powerful metaphor of sacrifice and exorcism of a hopeless love. GWAPE only stumbles when its author makes an unwise concession to popular taste with an ending that's smaltzy, sentimental and frankly disappointing. This one false note aside, "Girl With A Pearl Earring" is a beautifully crafted novel, one that is destined to have a long shelf life and enchant readers for many generations to come. I enjoyed it tremendously. I'm sure you will too. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read!!!
Review: This book was sooooo good. It is just a book that captures you and you do not want to put down the book. Just to think that this person, Vermeer, was a real person. After i finished reading it i looked up the picture on the internet. It seriously captures you and you can't take your eyes away from the painting. It is just amazing to think that you are looking at a very realistic picture of someone in the 1600's. It just blows my mind away. I strongly suggest reading this book. It is so good and i could read it over and over again. You are sad when it is over.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: A best seller, takes you to far away places, makes you feel as if you are in another century.
Rating: 
Summary: A maid comes for free
Review: This last sentence of Tracy Chevalier's novel sums up all the irony associated with being a poor woman in the 17th Century. Until the end of this novel, Griet has absolutely no control over any part of her life. Even at the end, her choice is not much of a choice; it is based on economic necessity. This novel is an amazing portrait of the life of a maid in Delft during this time period. Indeed, Griet's occupation as a maid is dictated for her. Her parents simply tell her she will go to work as a maid; she has no voice in the matter. Once at the Vermeer's household, she has no choice about the job responsibilities she will fulfill, whether she will pose for a painting, and from whom she will take orders. Even her few small possessions are not her own. In addition to this lack of control, Griet is subject to injustices at every turn, such as being accused of theft, fending off advances tactfully from wealthy patrons, and being disliked by every person in the house except her master. Griet's master, Vermeer, is perhaps the most interesting character in this novel. While not outwardly unkind to Griet, he inflicts the most damage upon her self-esteem and sense of self-worth. He is portrayed as not an unkind man, but not a kind one either. He is utterly self-absorbed, and only does things when they benefit him in some way. Despite this, he is pitiable, because he is so clearly miserable with his life. Even when he comes to Griet's aid, it is so that she can remain his assistant. This was a fascinating historical fictional account of a little-known but tremendously gifted artist. Beautifully and sensitively written, at the book's end you will feel you know the Papist's Corner and Vermeer's house therein--as well as it can be known, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Unsurprising in plot & character but satisfying nonetheless.
Review: Griet is a teenage girl living in the 17th century city of Delft Holland. Her father can no longer work as a tile maker because he lost his sight and the family is in need of money. So they find Griet employment as a live-in servant in Vermeer's household. The scenes are short. The characters are not deep and the town is narrowly depicted through Griet's life of laundry, shopping and cleaning. The only luminous part of Griet's day is cleaning Vermeer's painting studio. She must clean, but take care to place every item back precisely where it was. Griet doesn't mind. She has had practice cleaning and replacing items in their exact place for her blind father. But most importantly, she gets an opportunity to look at what Vermeer is painting. As time goes on, she eventually assists Vermeer with the preparation of paint colors and the more time she spends with him, the more she comes to admire and long for Vermeer and the imaginary world he creates on canvas. In the real world, Griet's family struggles. Her younger sister becomes ill, her brother toils as a tile maker's apprentice, and her parents scarcely make do. The butcher's son is courting Griet and a future as his wife is a realistic match and an improvement from her current situation for both her and her family; a butcher's son would ensure that they do not go hungry. Vermeer produces several paintings in this novel including a portrait of Griet wearing a pearl earring. I recommend being able to take a look at the artworks mentioned in the book. I found myself referring to the 2 on the cover and I looked at the Procuress and others when I was reading about them. The entire book is unsurprising in plot and character, but satisfying nonetheless. It felt as if only the necessary details were left in the novel crafting a sparse and finely formed story that I easily enjoyed. I will certainly be reading more of Tracy Chevalier.
Rating:
Summary: A pearl
Review: Johannes Vermeer is one of the most appraised and complete painters of all time. His ending in poverty and short life add to that aura of mistery and curiosity that envolves names like Michelangelo, Mozart and such. The name of the book is also the name of one of the most famous paintings by the XVIIth century, wich is considered the "Dutch Monalisa". If you have never seen this painting, just look at the cover of the book. Who is that girl? Like DaVinci's Monalisa, no one knows who was the model to Vermeer's almost mystic portrait. That's what author Tracy Chevalier imagines in her story. "Girl with a pearl earring" is the tale, told in first person, of Griet, the suddenly impoverished girl who spent more than two years as a maid in the Vermeer's household. Griet's arrival is seen with suspicions from the beginning, because she's a protestant, not a catholic like the Vermeers. Four daughters, the wife, the mother-in-law, and an older maid, everybody dislikes the new girl, with the exception of Johannes himseld, a quiet, withdrawn yet intense man; but, with her simple and straightforward way, Griet, little by little, becomes one of the most important people in the house. Read the book and you'll know why. Chevalier's book is, in fact, almost like a Vermeer painting: behind the apparent simplicity lies technic, perception and study. I've seen a few people complain that this book has no plot, no climax, it's dull, etc. Well, my advice is to this people is: stick to your shallow thrillers and gun-fight books. "Girl with a pearl earring" is a book made for people able to appreciate it. Just like a painting, but moving through your mind. Grade 9.0/10
Rating:
Summary: In short, though the book isn't,...
Review: satisfying and complex. Ms. Chevalier's research pays great dividends to us readers as we see a perfectly created world of Vermeer's life and home. You don't have to be an afficionado of the world of painting or Vermeer to appreciate the nice prose in this book. Although it drags at times, it is in the end satisfying in the arcs that the characters take through the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Character Study
Review: I really wish publishers would start stating on the book cover whether or not the novel contained within has a plot. This one does not, or at least not much of one. I'm not interested in reading character studies, and if I was, this wouldn't be one I had liked. An untrained, uneducated serving girl has the know how to fix the arrangement of a master artist's paintings so they become great. Uh huh. I don't think so. And even worse, I didn't care about her, the artist, or anyone else in the book. Don't waste your money. Find something with a plot.
Rating:
Summary: almost as entrancing as the painting itself
Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring has climbed right up there on my favroite novels list. In this gem Tracy Chevalier follows Griet, a young maid in Holland in the 1660s. Her writing is smoothe and subtle. When reading it you feel as though you are touching and seeing things through Griet's eyes. What moved me the most was her description of Johannes Vermeer's art and his process of meticulous planning and painting. After reading the novel I looked up some of his paintings online and I could not draw my eyes away from them. I highly reccomend this novel for a long afternoon where one can allow themselves to be taken by the words and truely fall into the story as it unfolds.
Rating:
Summary: Want to love a sophisticated book, no effort required?
Review: I didn't realize how much I had enjoyed reading *Girl with a Pearl Earring* until I had finished the last page, closed the book, and saw that there wasn't any more of it to read. It seduced my attention in such small steps that I hadn't noticed what Tracy Chevalier had accomplished: this is not just an interesting story about a painting, it is a stunning portrait in itself. To borrow a phrase from a high school teacher of mine, Tracy Chevalier could write about opening a box of cereal, and it would still be the most interesting thing you have read in a month. I read in a review on this website that *Pearl Earring* was a "surprisingly good read" despite its lack of plot and abundance of "uninteresting" and "unpleasant" characters. This description also suggests what the reviewer thinks would comprise an UNsurprisingly good book - lots of plot and pleasant characters? What fun would that be? The reason this reviewer thought the book was good _anyway_ is because Chevalier managed to break through his or her preconception that "good" means "a lot of cool stuff is going on." In Griet, Griet's family, and Griet's employers, Chevalier has created a wonderfully detailed and intelligent possible world where works of art may be created. After reading this book (in two days flat, by the way - I did not want to stop reading), I wanted to thank Chevalier for changing the way I could admire a painting. Vermeer was in the book, yes. All the little facts were correct, and historic Delft was presented plague, market, art patrons and all. But in the end, I only really cared about the girl - the girl who could read the people around her with only a glance, who knew that respectable women did not appear open-mouthed in portraits, who could see without being told what is missing in a small, dark spot of canvas, and who could find comfort in a small square of Delft tile made by her poor father when forced to live apart from him. If you are interested in this sort of an exercise in historical fiction, I highly recommend this book. And if you're wondering how a slow, quiet story without a plot can be enjoyable, read it and let Chevalier surprise you.
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