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Girl with a Pearl Earring, Deluxe Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $4.34
You Save: $11.66 (73%)
New (31) Used (75) from $4.34
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 16708
Media: Paperback
Edition: Deluxe
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 4.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0452287022
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780452287020
ASIN: 0452287022
Publication Date: August 30, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, spine creases, wear on binding and pages.
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Product Description
A Deluxe Edition of the National Bestseller with Over 2 Million Copies Sold:
Eight Pages of Full-Color Plates Include Every Vermeer Painting Discussed in the Book
French Flaps
Rough Front
Larger Trim Size
Premium Stock
With a New Foreword
Celebrate Tracy Chevalier s modern classic Girl With A Pearl Earring, featuring a gorgeous new edition illustrated with eight pages of Vermeer s masterworks. History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. The story of Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with a genius as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil, is new again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
good book, but the film is better January 29, 2008
Aleksandra Nita-Lazar (MA, USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Johannes Vermeer, one of the famous Dutch painting masters from the seventeenth century, in the middle of his career created a portrait of a girl with a pearl earring, in a turban, often called "The Dutch Mona Lisa". The girl from the painting looks at us with mysterious expression, sometimes appears sad, sometimes hiding a smile... What is her story?
Tracy Chevalier created one possible version in her novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" where some historical facts mix with fiction to create the beautiful story, vivid and colorful, reminiscent of Vermeer's paintings... The atmosphere of the book is incredible, unique, as if it were an account of an eye-witness and not the figment of the author's imagination.
Griet, a sixteen-year old daughter of a glass blower from Delft, disabled after a work-related accident, , from an impoverished, but hard- working family, inherited her father's artistic sensitivity. She starts a job as a servant at Vermeer's house and the painter becomes intrigued seeing her vegetable compositions. When Vermeer notices Griet, her life changes - she becomes his aide and, finally, a model for the famous portrait. She get a chance, but at the same time enters the different world, full of obstacles unfamiliar for her, and she needs to be careful. Their fascination with each other cannot last long...
In Holland of the 1600s the social order is strictly defined. The Protestants are completely separate from Catholics, the poor from the rich, the masters from the servants. This is why Griet and Vermeer do not even think about a romantic relationship, despite their similar view of the world. Johannes has to paint to feed his ever-growing family and satisfy his possessive, jealous wife, Catharina, who except being the mother of his children does not have much in common with him, and his mother-in-law, the greedy and conniving Maria Thinks, who manages very well to get more and more orders for his paintings. The portrait of a servant and the growing, although mainly spiritual, intimacy of the artist with Griet cause tension in the family and after a while Griet's dismissal seems inevitable and many intrigues and repressions from Vermeer's family members and friends make her leave. Such ending is obvious for all involved parties and any regrets remain unspoken... Griet marries Pieter, the cheerful butcher's son, and moves on. Only much later, the surprising gift reminds her of the time at the painter's home.
The characters are full of life: Vermeer, a full-blown artist; Griet, girl who in other reality could change her destiny; Catharina, a woman who does not see beyond her traditional role; Maria Thinks, clever and resourceful; and many other minor protagonists, sketched skillfully and with precision. It is easy to imagine the clothes, simple, ascetic surroundings, streets of Delft - the prose is very descriptive and full of details.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring" is an enjoyable book, but it is also one of the rare examples, where the film based on a novel exceeds it - the 2004 screening by Peter Webber with Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth is a great movie.
 BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED HISTORICAL FICTION... September 4, 2005
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This gifted author weaves a mesmerizing tale around Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer's most famous painting, creating an incandescent and luminous work of her own. His painting is a simple, though enigmatic, portrait of a girl with a pearl earring, about which little is known. The author, however, a born storyteller, creates a living, breathing story around it, using a singular, first person narrative. Told in spare, elegant prose, the author leaps into literary renown with this book.
The events in the book are viewed through the eyes of Griet, a sixteen year old Dutch girl, whose changed family circumstances force her into taking a position as a maid in the home of a renowned painter, the taciturn Johannes Vermeer. There, the painter resides with his tempestuous wife, Catharina, their brood of unruly children, his commanding and shrewd mother-in-law, Maria Thins, and their loyal housekeeper and cook, Tanneke. The author lovingly details seventeenth century life in the Dutch city of Delft. It is here that Griet's story unfolds.
Sensitive and perceptive, Griet is attuned to the under currents in the Vermeer household and, at first, takes care not to draw attention to herself. Still, she, the daughter of a tile painter, is curious about Vermeer's artistry and is drawn to his work and his methods. Vermeer, sensing a kindred artistic spirit in Griet, draws her into his world of paint, color, light, and beauty, creating an intimacy of the spirit between the two.
Still, Griet, a girl on the brink of becoming a woman, finds herself confused and breathlessly desiring more than she may have. Her longing for more than a communion of the spirit with Vermeer is palpable. It is, therefore, not surprising that the undercurrents in the Vermeer household should come bubbling to the surface and engulf Griet, much to her consternation.
This is a stunning literary work that fully realizes the promise that the author showed in her debut novel, "The Virgin Blue". She is an author that understands the less is often more, and she makes every word count. Deliberate and spare, her prose is lyrical in its simplicity, weaving a tale that will keep the reader spellbound. This is historical fiction at its finest. Bravo!
Which of the "Vermeer books" to read? September 19, 2005
Mary Whipple (New England)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Art lovers, and particularly Vermeer lovers, have had two "Vermeer novels" available for the past few years, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. Both are short, both are well written, both involve a hypnotizingly seductive Vermeer painting, and both tell of the influence of the painting on the lives of the main characters. As for which is better, that may be a matter of taste, though Girl with the Pearl Earring has had the lion's share of publicity, especially after the production of the film. Many readers will be interested in reading both novels.
In Girl With A Pearl Earring, author Chevalier focuses her literary microscope on Griet, a maid in the Vermeer household who becomes an assistant to the painter. Griet is a young woman who maintains her integrity despite the turbulence and social pressures to which she is subjected in the household. Life in Delft and in this family during the time of the painting is replete with petty jealousies, economic pressures, class distinctions, religious differences, and political and social uncertainty, and Griet has to navigate her way through this milieu. It is through her character and domestic situation that one comes to know Vermeer and his painting.
The second Vermeer novel, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, on the other hand, is not a "character novel." Here the author does not concentrate on one character or even the painting as an end in itself. Instead, Vreeland takes a broader, more global view, using the history of a hitherto undiscovered Vermeer painting to work backward from the present to the painting's inception in Delft. The "story" here is a careful tracing of themes--the relationship between personal love and responsibility to mankind in general, the role of art in the lives of ordinary people, and what constitutes lasting value both in art and in human interactions. In seven or eight chapters we see how the painting has affected the lives of its various owners.
Ultimately, comparing these beautifully wrought novels is like comparing pearl earrings to hyacinths. Both are gorgeous; each is unique. Girl with the Pearl Earring is more accessible and more popular, while Girl in Hyacinth Blue is more complex and literary. Lovers of Vermeer are encouraged to read both--and enjoy. Mary Whipple
A Winner March 5, 2007
Rossana Snee (Lakewood, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
One of the best books I've read in a long time. Read it in a couple of days. Beautifully written. The story is subtle yet beckons to be read so it can unravel itself to a perfect ending. I would highly recommend it. I felt like I was wandering the streets of Delft. The descriptions were amazing. Chevalier did another great job. I also recommend The Lady and the Unicorn.
 Over rated! August 2, 2007
Arthur Enyedy (Petaluma, california United States)
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
This slim book does not deserve the praise heaped upon it. How absurd to imagine a young maid, without any background or instruction in art, will explain to the master-painter Vemeer how his paintings might be improved. Griet sees the flaws in the paintings and wonders why Vemeer does not correct them - yeah, that's plausible. Not once is Griet wrong in her criticism/suggestion on how the painting might be improved.
Unexplained in this lame plot is why Griet's situation is so precarious - the master instructs her to mix the colors - but if his wife finds out Griet is carrying out his instructions, there will be hell to pay! But why? And why is the other servant so jealous that Griet is mixing the colors?? The extra work doesn't sound fun.
One of Vemeer's daughter's torments Griet for no apparent reason (other than to create plot "tension") - oh no! Griet might lose "everything she has" - but what she has is nothing but a low paying, hard working job as a maid. And losing the job is no big deal anyway, she can go marry the butcher's son who lusts after her. (What an anti-romance the courtship of Griet by Pieter is - how dull, how devoid of passion, - their "dates" consist of Pieter groping her body in an alley!)
Usually "literature" that is this weak in plot makes up for it with beautiful prose, but the prose in this novel is merely workmanlike. This is no masterpiece. I was glad the book was only 288 pages in the hardcover edition.
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