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A review by theresidentbookworm
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
4.0
The image of Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring is well-known by most around the world. I know I have seen it several times before. Still, when my teacher pulled up a large image of this painting, I couldn't help but be captivated. The girl's expressive eyes, her curious (and somewhat piercing) gaze, made me think. I wondered who she was, who she had been looking at, why was she wearing a pearl earring, etc. Then I realized why Tracy Chevalier had been compelled to write this book.
Chevalier did extraordinary research on a figure we know little about historically. Most of what is included in the novel (his family, patronage, financial problems, painting methods) are true from what we know. Of course, we do not know who modeled for Girl With a Pearl Earring. We do not know if it was an lady or a commissioner's daughter or even a maid named Griet. Of course, this isn't really Chevalier's concern because this is historical fiction for a reason. The detail put into the most minute things is tremendous. I thought it was clever Griet's smallest observations about what being painted actually matched up to the real-life Vermeer paintings. I didn't catch on until halfway through the novel, but once I did I Googled Vermeer's paintings and looked at them. It helped me tremendously in picturing the atmosphere of the studio. Griet's perspective as the only Protestant in a house full of Catholics in the 17th century was intriguing to me for obvious reasons. I gained a lot of valuable information from that perspective. For example, I didn't know Protestants were uncomfortable with religious depictions in artwork.
Though the story Chevalier tells is dynamic and thought-provoking, her characters do not always come out the same way. Griet and I have many barriers separating us already, time period and social structure being one. I felt as if another barrier had been put up between us as she told her story. Though smart and full of life in her own way, Griet keeps everyone at a distance. She is tightly coiled, and though many would've not created a character such as Griet for this story, I think it serves both the painting and the plot justice. It would've been all too easy to have the two fall into an explosive love affair that created such a sensual painting. Instead, Chevalier stays true to her source material: Girl with a Pearl Earring. In the painting, the girl is very restrained, not moving her mouth or her hands, just piercing us with her gaze. The romance between Vermeer and Griet is summed up in that word: restraint. Vermeer himself is kept ambiguous, suiting both Griet's position as a maid and Chevalier's own desire to keep the painter mysterious due to the lack of information on him. Some would find this annoying, but I think it to be a thoughtful character development decision.
The supporting cast is just as detailed as the artist and his muse. Catherina is spoiled and selfish, to be sure, but ultimately she is unhatable to me. After all, she has to deal with the high and lows of being married to an artist, one who produces only three paintings a year when they have many children and keep having more. Cornelia is a very vindictive little girl, but even her actions are understood. She just wants attention from her father in the place she'll never get it: the studio. Catherina and Cornelia's jealousy of Griet stems from the servant's secured place in the studio. Griet's parents are realistically drawn and infinitely sad, her father blinded and her mother grieving over the loss of Griet's younger sister Agnes. My favorite character was Pieter the son, though I felt like he was cheapened a little bit by Griet. What he offered her wasn't bad: an independent life with a husband that would understand and never ask the painful questions. I think Griet realized that in the end and loved him in her own way, but I still can't understand her fascination with the man she could never even think of as anything but her master
Compelling, detailed, and heartbreaking, you definitely want to read Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's a fascinating guess to the back story of a remarkable painting. I'm looking forward to seeing if the movie does it justice.
Chevalier did extraordinary research on a figure we know little about historically. Most of what is included in the novel (his family, patronage, financial problems, painting methods) are true from what we know. Of course, we do not know who modeled for Girl With a Pearl Earring. We do not know if it was an lady or a commissioner's daughter or even a maid named Griet. Of course, this isn't really Chevalier's concern because this is historical fiction for a reason. The detail put into the most minute things is tremendous. I thought it was clever Griet's smallest observations about what being painted actually matched up to the real-life Vermeer paintings. I didn't catch on until halfway through the novel, but once I did I Googled Vermeer's paintings and looked at them. It helped me tremendously in picturing the atmosphere of the studio. Griet's perspective as the only Protestant in a house full of Catholics in the 17th century was intriguing to me for obvious reasons. I gained a lot of valuable information from that perspective. For example, I didn't know Protestants were uncomfortable with religious depictions in artwork.
Though the story Chevalier tells is dynamic and thought-provoking, her characters do not always come out the same way. Griet and I have many barriers separating us already, time period and social structure being one. I felt as if another barrier had been put up between us as she told her story. Though smart and full of life in her own way, Griet keeps everyone at a distance. She is tightly coiled, and though many would've not created a character such as Griet for this story, I think it serves both the painting and the plot justice. It would've been all too easy to have the two fall into an explosive love affair that created such a sensual painting. Instead, Chevalier stays true to her source material: Girl with a Pearl Earring. In the painting, the girl is very restrained, not moving her mouth or her hands, just piercing us with her gaze. The romance between Vermeer and Griet is summed up in that word: restraint. Vermeer himself is kept ambiguous, suiting both Griet's position as a maid and Chevalier's own desire to keep the painter mysterious due to the lack of information on him. Some would find this annoying, but I think it to be a thoughtful character development decision.
The supporting cast is just as detailed as the artist and his muse. Catherina is spoiled and selfish, to be sure, but ultimately she is unhatable to me. After all, she has to deal with the high and lows of being married to an artist, one who produces only three paintings a year when they have many children and keep having more. Cornelia is a very vindictive little girl, but even her actions are understood. She just wants attention from her father in the place she'll never get it: the studio. Catherina and Cornelia's jealousy of Griet stems from the servant's secured place in the studio. Griet's parents are realistically drawn and infinitely sad, her father blinded and her mother grieving over the loss of Griet's younger sister Agnes. My favorite character was Pieter the son, though I felt like he was cheapened a little bit by Griet. What he offered her wasn't bad: an independent life with a husband that would understand and never ask the painful questions. I think Griet realized that in the end and loved him in her own way, but I still can't understand her fascination with the man she could never even think of as anything but her master
Compelling, detailed, and heartbreaking, you definitely want to read Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's a fascinating guess to the back story of a remarkable painting. I'm looking forward to seeing if the movie does it justice.