Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant book for summer reading
Review: Great book! Chevalier paints a picture of the girl every bit as compelling as the Vermeer painting itself. It is a carefully crafted glimpse into the dutch domestic life of the 17th century. Griet, the girl of the title, is a portrait of her times and the circumstances that create her alliance with the great artist. It is a deceptively simple book that stays with the reader long after the last pages are completed. I wanted to read more and find out everything about her life and the little town. I had purchased this book back in May - but put it away to read during our summer vacation and I am so glad I had the time to savor the story. Chevalier uses prose in a most compact yet descriptive manner and draws characters skillfully. I would read it again - I probably will shortly! Thank you for a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn!
Review: I'd heard the hype. I'd seen the title on the best seller list for ages. I took the bait and started to read.And I was disappointed. The story has so much potential, but the author left too many loose ends and in many respects was far too superficial for my tastes. I did not think that the character of Griet was fully developed, and I was left scratching my head about Vermeer. What prompted him to paint? Why did he see things diferently than normal folk? What made him a great artist? All this being said, if you want a four star mindless beach read, this book suits the bill.
Rating: 
Summary: work of art
Review: I loved this book! The painting on the cover of the book caught my attention and I could not stop reading. Griet was wonderful! The story read like a painting. Just as Vermeer's work looks like photographs of daily life. When I finished this book I felt like i had lived in that time and place also. And under different circumstances, Griet could hve been a great painter also!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This book takes you back in time seamlessly, without the reader needing a moment's pause to understand the differences in setting or social status. It's as if it is the world we have lived in our entire lives; the simplicity of it gleams from the writing to the characterization of Griet herself. Before you know it, you are as taken with her as everyone else. Her simplicity reveals more than had she screamed. This is a wonderful read, unfortunately, I could not put it down and was done in an hour. It reminded me of the recent best seller "Memoirs of a Geisha."
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous!
Review: I couldn't disagree more with the other reviewer, who says that it was difficult to listen to this because the reader's voice sounds so old. On the contrary, Ms Phimister does a spectacular job. I don't think the age of the reader matters (not that she sounded THAT much older than Griet would) as much as the emotions and inflections carried by her voice. She is a great story-teller, and I was quickly engrossed. In fact, I did not imagine that anyone would have a problem with her voice until I happened upon that negative review. If you keep an open mind and have a bit of imagination, you will enjoy this performance as wholeheartedly as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: DULL
Review: What a great concept--taking a breathtakingly beautiful painting and giving it life! I couldn't wait to read about this lovely girl with the pearl earring. What a disappointment, what a bore! Much has been written about the author's portayal of a 17th century Dutch household. True, there's historical information that's interesting, but it was like reading non-fiction, not a novel with well-developed characters and an intriquing story. The prose was tedious, the style undistinguished. Nothing about the book really drew me in, except the cover--I found myself looking back often, gazing upon that beautiful face and wondering what really was behind the pearl earring. Maybe there's a book in it.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read!
Review: This novel is wonderful for anyone, but especially appealing for those of us who are in book discussion clubs. The novel is open for personal interpretation on many levels. Ms. Chevalier's presentation of life in a very difficult time is tempered with one girl's strong sense of identity even as she responds to duty imposed by family hardship. There are many levels to this story, and while Griet is the main focus, the fear of Vermeer's wife and her insecurities about her place in her husband's priorities are very interesting, as is the character Vermeer himself. A wonderful novel!
Rating:
Summary: The beauty of Vermeer's paintng inspired a beautiful story.
Review: I didn't know much about Jan Vermeer, except that he was a Dutch painter. Based on Vermeer's painting "The Girl With a Pearl Earring", the book is a fictional first hand account of that girl, who the author invents as a maid turned muse in the Vermeer household. There are enough facts to stir up interest, for me at least, in the works and life of the painter. The story told by the maid, Griet, speaks of the 1600's where Catholicism was suspect, the plague caused many deaths,and food was scarce. You also glimpse the technology of the times; the camera obscura, the boats with swolen holds in the harbor, the mixing of herbs at home for medicine, and the use of various plants and bones to make paint. I think that Chevalier was inspired by Vermeer's use of light and shadow, and has researched this period, plus whatever scant personal information exists about the artist,and has written a beautiful, insightful, well thought out book. It is as rich in color and light as the painter's work. I loved "Galileo's Daughter", for much the same reasons as I love this book. When I think of the 1600's, I have a hazy view of that period of great artisans, a crippling lack of technology, cold and damp houses. I am always delighted to read about micro perspectives of that time that deliver me from this sort of hazy macro collage I have of the past.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: This book compels you to read on and on to reach the end. The descriptive passages in the book make you feel as if you were there. There are definite characteristics from each character that you would find in your family, friends, and acquaintances. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Bland, Colorless Encounter with Vermeer
Review: Chevalier has painted Vermeer's world, but has forgotten to make it interesting. We enter Vermeer's world through the first-person narrative of Griet, a young sixteen-year old maid. In typical Cinderalla-like fashion, Griet is hated by Vermeer's wife and daughter, Cornelia. Griet, pious and beautiful, maintains her place in the home, gaining the attentions of the male characters. Chevalier tells rather than shows, breaking the first rule of good writing. In addition, her prose is amateurish: simplistic and syntactically dull. Perhaps Chevalier should have spent less time including as many socio-historical tidbits as possible and focused on developing the characters . . . . and the plot.
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