Girl With a Pearl Earring Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Girl With a Pearl Earring Book

The Dutch painter Vermeer has remained one of the great enigmas of 17th-century Dutch art. Whilst little is known of his personal life, his extraordinary paintings of natural and domestic life, with their subtle play of light and colour, have come to define the Dutch Golden Age. The mysterious portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has fascinated art historians for centuries, and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's second novel of the same title. Girl with a Pearl Earring centres on Vermeer's prosperous household in Delft in the 1660s. The appointment of the quiet, perceptive heroine of the novel, the servant Griet, gradually throws the household into turmoil as Vermeer and Griet become increasingly intimate, an increasingly tense situation that culminates in her working for Vermeer as his assistant, and ultimately sitting for him as a model. Chevalier deliberately cultivates a limpid, painstakingly observed style in homage to Vermeer, and the complex domestic tensions of the Vermeer household are vividly evoked, from the jealous, vain, young wife to the wise, taciturn mother in law. At times the relationship between servant and master seems a little anachronistic, but Girl with a Pearl Earring does contain a final delicious twist in its tail. Chevalier acknowledges her debt to Simon Schama's classic study of the Dutch Golden Age, The Embarrassment of Riches, and the novel comes hard on the heels of Deborah Moggach's similar tale of domestic intrigue behind the easel of 17th-century Dutch painting, Tulip Fever. Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fascinating piece of speculative historical fiction, but how much more can novelists extract from the Dutch Golden Age? --Jerry BrottonRead More

from£8.89 | RRP: £7.99
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £2.73
  • Amazon

    Griet, the daughter of a tilemaker in 17th century Holland, obtains her first job, as a servant in Vermeer's household. This book shows the reader, through Griet's eyes, the family, the society of the town of Delft, and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life, but the cost to her own survival may be high.

  • Foyles

    OVER FIVE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE‘A phenomenon’ Jessie Burton‘Dazzling’ Daily Mail‘Truly magical' GuardianThose eyes are fixed on someone. But who? What is she thinking as she stares out from one of the world’s best-loved paintings?Johannes Vermeer can spot exceptional beauty. When servant girl Griet catches his eye, she soon becomes both student and muse. But then he gives her his wife’s pearl earrings to wear for a portrait, and a scandal erupts that could threaten Griet’s future…Vivid and captivating, this timeless modern classic has become a successful film and an international bestseller, with over 5 million copies sold around the world; now with a new introduction by the author.‘A veritable work of art… one of those rare novels where all the decisions made by the author appear inevitable and right’ Rose Tremain‘Timeless, delicate and as exquisitely measured as one of Vermeer's paintings. Tense yet perfectly-paced and filled with the beauty of life's colours, Girl with the Pearl Earring is a masterpiece in its own right. Just a phenomenon. I will hold this novel close for the rest of my life’ Jessie Burton, author of The Minaturist‘If ever a novel rightly deserves its “five millions copies sold” achievement, it is this dazzling little masterpiece … Absolute magic’ Daily Mail'A portrait of radiance…Tracy Chevalier brings the real artist Vermeer and a fictional muse to life in a jewel of a novel' Time‘Chevalier doesn't put a foot wrong in this triumphant work … It is a beautifully written tale that mirrors the elegance of the painting that inspired it’ Wall Street Journal'A wonderful novel, mysterious, steeped in atmosphere, deeply revealing about the process of painting…truly magical' Guardian‘It is no wonder that this beautifully-written story has sold more than five million copies and been made into a successful film. An absolute triumph’ Woman’s Weekly

  • Play

    A sumptuous new look for Tracy Chevalier's bestselling novel. Griet the young daughter of a tilemaker in seventeeth century Holland obtains her first job as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us through Griet's eyes the complicated family the society of the small town of Delft and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life and leaving her former drudgery but the cost to her own survival may be high.

  • BookDepository

    Girl With a Pearl Earring : Paperback : HarperCollins Publishers : 9780007232161 : : 03 Jul 2006 : OVER FIVE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE 'A phenomenon' Jessie Burton 'Dazzling' Daily Mail 'Truly magical' Guardian

  • Blackwell

    An international bestseller with over two million copies sold, this is a story of an artist's desire for beauty and the ultimate corruption of innocence. An international bestseller with over two million copies sold, this is a story of an artist's...

  • 0007232160
  • 9780007232161
  • Tracy Chevalier
  • 3 July 2006
  • Harper
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 256
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.