Rating: 
Summary: An "Art Masterpiece!"
Review: The reason I liked this book so much is because I have taught "Vermeer" in Art Masterpiece to third graders for the past five years, and it made the art and the artist much more real for me. I am scheduled to teach art masterpiece this week and I plan to tell the kids about this book as a modern example of how art can be used in literature. (I usually tell them about the place in a book by Marcel Proust where a character with blood poisoning falls to his death while in a museum looking at "View of Delft" and exclaiming, "The little yellow wall, the little yellow wall!") I also liked the way Vreeland structured the story from present to past--a clever technique that made the reading fun. The Penguin edition I read had an interview with the author at the end of the story and that was another highlight for me. Thank you, Susan Vreeland for making me a better teacher!
Rating: 
Summary: Never Really Hooked Me
Review: Creatively, Susan Vreeland's book is pretty special. Eight stories that move backwards through time that revolve around a Vermeer painting. Through each of the stories the painting manages to evoke particular feelings in each of the narrators, demonstrating the power and allure of art. As much as I appreciated her craftsmanship in the storytelling, the stories themselves left me a little cold. I didn't really have any kind of emotional attachment to any of the characters, so consequently I found myself being more of an observer and less of a participant.Still, it's a fast moving and easy read, and for people interested in art and artists, this would probably be an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointment
Review: I wanted this book to be good. It is attractively packaged and the premise of the story seemed promising. Reading the book's words brought only a two dimensional vision, and an unoriginal vision at that. There is nothing new here for anyone who has heard the word "nazi", and mediocre prose to convey a listless and painfully forced story.
Rating:
Summary: A marvelous book!
Review: An enchanting, fascinating, wonderful book. The book itself is like a Vermeer painting. As Vermeer used the color and detail in a painting to reveal his true subject - light - so does the author use details, emotions and lives themselves to paint that which affects them - Vermeer. Marvelous.
Rating: 
Summary: Time Well Spent
Review: Many of us complain that in our hectic lives, we have no time to read. I don't buy that flimsy excuse, however, if it does apply to you, take my advice and read Girl In Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. This is truly time well spent in reading for pleasure. The author has researched the facts meticulously, and her style is spare and moving. Art and beauty play a major role in our lives;this is well proven by this book which traces the provenance of a purported Vermeer painting. Stories go backwards in time, characters are introduced, speaking the language of their era. Your mind is constantly engaged in reading this book. It goes on my list of 'Unforgetable Reads.'
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Beauty
Review: A painting hangs secretly in the basement of a professor's house. With fervor, he swears it is a Vermeer, a rare canvas by a 17th century Dutch artist. In the following chapters, Susan Vreeland skillfully unfolds the story behind the painting, gradually peeling away the years in layers that trace the work back to the artist. What is most striking is Vreeland's use of reverse chronology to build up the plot progressively. In the present, controversies created over time shroud the professor's painting. However, a journey back in time clarifies these questions as each chapter brings the reader one generation closer to the date of production, and the reader is kept in suspense until that moment. In these final chapters, the model for the beautiful painting is revealed, and the reader discovers that she is actually a plain, ordinary girl. Vreeland emphasizes that even the ordinary can have great significance and beauty. This beauty has a cost, however, as many of her characters discover. Through their experiences, she reminds us why we continue to reach for it all the same. These characters are extremely well-developed and possess strong personality traits. Rather than building her characters with obvious statements, Vreeland uses a blend of dialogue and thoughts. These illustrate the characters as thinking, feeling humans that are capable of mistakes Summing up the entire novel in the last paragraph, Vreeland concludes with a very powerful ending that shows the subject of the painting mulling over the permanence of artwork, of the fact that she herself would be stared at for centuries, but none would have known her. This theme had been repeated throughout the previous chapters, with people who had done exactly that. There is also a further emphasis that something ordinary can greatly impact others. As each chapter brings the reader farther back, a new section of history is revealed. However, the focus is less on the history itself, and more on the painting and its impact on people through centuries. Historical fiction and art fanatics may enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Sadness oozes from every page
Review: This is a small book, and only about half of every page is used. I thought I could read this book in about an hour, but I had to keep stopping. Nearly every story is heartbreakingly sad. Our book group selected this book, and the leader said that the author wrote this while struggling with cancer and those emotions came out in the writing. This must be true. I like fiction that celebrates life. This book covers many of life's sorrows. I don't think I would read another book by this author, but I'm not sorry I finished this one. On to something happier, like a Jane Hamiltion. (ha)
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: I know what you're thinking. Is this going to be one of those artsy "literary experiences" where almost nothing happens? NO! Incredibly, this book is pretty much of a page-turner, with a group of inter-connected stories about a fictional Vermeer painting. The book is done backwards, with the contemporary story first, followed by the World War II story, the turn of the century story, etc. It works beautifully! The characters are so well drawn that you'll come to know them well in only a few pages and you'll CARE about them. You'll also care about the painting, so remarkably word-painted by Ms. Vreeland that every nuance of it is indelible in the mind. When you finish the book, you'll turn back to page one and start again. One of the best books ever, and I read evrything from Sidney Sheldon to James Joyce.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-Paced Charmer
Review: A great read for those with little time to indulge in massive-length books. An alleged Vermeer painting is traced back through the centuries. Its impact on various lives is explored. I really have to thank the myriad reviews on it, because I noticed this book at the library, and began reading it without any prior publishing info. on it. (There's not even a real book jacket explanation). So the first two chapters were confusing. After I read a few reviews, I understood the author's concept. The later chapters, centering on Vermeer's family, were especially intriguing and delightful. This book was such a fresh, welcome difference from another Vermeer-inspired book, Girl with a Pearl Earring -- Watch out! That book seems to have an intense fan club that seems intent on pooh-poohing those who didn't like it, even though the latter were very helpful to me, explaining their positions clearly and making good points, influencing my own reactions. Susan Vreeland seems to have more insight into Vermeer, and I found her depictions of characters more absorbing than the rather dull main characters in Girl with a Pearl Earring. Here per this book, I also found it enjoyable to browse through, concurrently, a book on Vermeer's life and paintings, to lend "atmosphere" to the reading. I've never read anything by this author, but I'll be happy to check her future work.
Rating:
Summary: a delight
Review: This was one of the best books I read all summer! It develops wonderful characters, creates a marvelous plot line, and emphazises the theme of the influence of art on lives. When a man shows his beloved painting which he believes is an original Vermeer to his friend, the friend claims it could be a fake since Vermeer's work had been copied in the 1930s. With that the chapter ends, but the book just begins. With each chapter, Vreeland creates another short story, with different, but always real characters. Only one thing stays constant - the painting. Each chapter/short story takes the reader back in time to the previous owner of the painting until at the end, we learn if the painting was a real or a fake. What a wonderful premise for the construction of a novel. This book is a delight and we need to hope Susan Vreeland continues to write more books!
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