Rating: 
Summary: shaaaaaallow
Review: Read this for book club and all I can say is yuck. OBVIOUSLY written for the book club market. So lightweight, it floats. Deeply, deeply shallow. A cute trick the way it starts now and goes back in time but so what. It is a quick-read if that's all you want. And I'll tell you what bothered me the most was the chapter that was probably the most developed -- when the mother killed the deformed baby. Do a little RESEARCH would ya? Mothers didn't get hung for killing babies back then. Especially not a baby that would've starved to death in a few days. The whole thing just annoyed me. I left book club and dropped it in the nearest trash can. Not even worth passing along. Yuck.
Rating: 
Summary: overrated
Review: The book has a clever gimmick behind it, but the writing seems more like an outline of a story than the story itself. It tries to be The Red Violin, but isn't nearly as captivating, authentic or profound.
Rating: 
Summary: Is it fit for a movie?
Review: A wonderful book with unexpected surprises and twists. I really enjoyed reading it. Romance, suspence, action, it's like a movie script. Nevertheless, I'm afraid that, transforming this book into a movie, may take away a lot of the suggested unawareness of the protagonists. I wish the directors and actors good luck. Br a lg!GRTZ
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing premise
Review: Like the textured layers of a fine piece of art, this novel unfolds layer by layer in reverse fashion. Several of the chapters had actually been published first as short stories - later the author built the rest of the novel around them, which may account for the criticism of inconsistent writing by one reviewer. On the whole, I lkied this book very much and would recommend it as an insightful book that compels the reader to consider the impact good art has on our lives.
Rating: 
Summary: fast, easy read, but some parts boring, others captivating
Review: The reason I am rating this three stars is that I felt that there was an inconsistency in the quality of the writing and at times the stories were weak. Each chapter is a different short story about the owner of the painting at various times in the last few hundred years. Some stories are great, interesting and page-turners while others are not. Some stories are boring and I felt no real connection to the characters as people. I put down the book about half way through and had a hard time picking it up again. What saved this from a lower rating was that the end contained several great short stories that I feel were the best stories in the book, so it ends with high quality page-turning stories. I found it fun to find out the origins of the painting, we do find out who the girl in the painting is, however, I honestly cannot say it was suspenseful throughout. I found myself captivated by some stories and not wanting to put the book down, but then bored and wanting to skip the chapter of the next story. Lastly, I was frustrated at the idea that the first character in the book was contemplating burning the painting. Although it was stolen by his Nazi father from a Jewish family, despite his disgust at his father being a Nazi and guilt over how it was attained, he didn't want to return the painting to the Jewish organization that takes back artwork stolen by Nazis. That he would consider burning such a lovely piece made absolutely no sense to me! The painting should have been returned to the Jewish organization.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I really liked this book. It was fun to travel back in time with the painting. I also read Girl with the Pearl earring and that was great too. This is almost like reading several short stories. Quick, fun.
Rating: 
Summary: A STORY WITH A PAINTING AS A CHARACTER...?
Review: The concept behind Susan Vreeland's GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE is an interesting one -- a beautiful painting, claimed by its present owner to be a previously-unknown work by Vermeer, is followed back through time, through its various owners, to the time of its inception and inspiration. A challenging premise -- but in the hands of Vreeland, it works very well. The novel starts out in the present day -- a reclusive university professor invites a fellow faculty member (an art professor) into his home, after the funeral of a dean. There, in his study, he reveals to his fellow teacher his most prized possession, a beautiful, luminous painting of a young girl looking out of a window. The art professor admires the artist's skill, calling it 'remarkable', a 'beguiling imitation' of a Vermeer. When the painting's owner reveals his belief that it is, indeed, a Vermeer, the art professor presses him for information as to how his father (who bequeathed him the work) came by the painting, and we are off on our journey. Along the way, we encounter many people who have possessed the painting over the past 300+ years -- and, as a microcosm of humanity itself, we find that they are simple, pure, pretentious, generous, scheming, talented and manipulative, in turns. It's a fascinating way of looking at the world 'around' this work of art - and, ultimately, many ways of looking at the work itself. The book is both well-written and entertaining -- and, overall, very illuminating, both in relation to art and to human nature, a highly recommended reading experience.
Rating:
Summary: A painting's provenance
Review: This book traces the history of a lost Vermeer back to its inception in a series of short stories that hang together as a novel.
It is a small book, no bigger than a video case, finely crafted as the Vermeer it is about. Although I usually am not interested in historical novels, I found the historical details about Holland very interesting.
For such a small book, it resonates in the mind clearly.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: Is it possible that two different writers wrote two different novels about the same painter in the same year? I must admit that Vermeer is new to me, and introduced first through Girl With a Pearl Earring, and now through Girl in Hyacinth Blue. I found both novels exquisite, and well worth the time. Anytime a book makes me want to learn more about something...a place, a person, a time in history...i consider it time well invested. I have since read up on Jan Vermeer and his life, and find his paintings to be truly beautiful. And although I know that this particular painting is fictional, the story is completely believable and intriguing. I want to see a Vermeer for myself, and hope I'll have that chance someday.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Journey
Review: I read this book for a book group. I don't usually like short stories but this book is completely different. Each short story could stand alone, but they are all connected. The beginning was a little slow, but if you stick with it, the book is an amazing gem. Follow a paintings life back to its creation. This painting has had some interesting travels. Try this book, I think that you will like it.
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