
“Girl with a pearl earring” is a novel written by Tracy Chevalier. It is published by Harper Collins and it’s a drama and a romantic story. It’s told by the protagonist who is telling us her own biography.
The story took place un Delft, a Dutch town, during the seventeenth century. Griet, the protagonist, was a sixteen-year-old girl who belonged to a poor family. As her father got blind and he couldn’t continue working as a tile painter, she had to start working as a maid for a painter’s family, the Vermeer’s. It was a huge family whose bread-winner was a painter. Since the first day he met Griet, he realised that she had some artistic intuition which, later, will help with his colours and paintings. At her work, she had to deal with children pranks, specially Cornelia’s ones , the jealousy of the other maid and of her mistress, who didn’t put up with the special attention her husband had for the maid.
She got used to her hard job, her new house, her mistress and master religion, not seeing any familiar face.. Nevertheless, her new life brought Pieter to her, a handsome and kind boy who wanted her as his wife. On Sundays, she was allowed to visit her family and do her protestant services.
Eventually, she was in big trouble because the man who supported her mastress job, van Ruijven, wanted a picture of her. The story reflects how the aristocracy seemed to believe that they could have everything they wanted and what life was like in the 17th century.
From my point of view, the writer uses a good technique, giving us information from the past in between present events and going back and forwards in time (flashback). I think the vocabulary isn’t very common nowadays because it’s set in another century but I could guess almost all the meanings from the context, without looking them up in a dictionary. I found it moving and worth-reading. What I most enjoyed was the strange relationship Pieter the son and Griet had, that is gripping. They loved each other in a weird way. On one hand, she wasn’t sure about getting married to him and she put it off for two years. Moreover, she was found of her master but she tried to hide her feelings. On the other hand, he never inquired her about her feelings, his relation with the master or how she had her lobes pierced.
I was quite interested in the importance Griet gave to hide her hair. The moment someone saw it, she felt like she had nothing more honour able to lose and she lost her virginity with Pieter.
I did not like van Ruijven character because he thought that, due to his fortune, he could have whatever he wanted. He had had an affair with one of his maids whose life he spoiled leaving her pregnant. Pieter the father was also a very rude character but, in my opinion, he had a good heart. I found her sister’s death because of a sudden pest appalling and the effect it had un her sensitive little heart.
It was an easy read. Nevertheless, the beginning was a little tedious but then you couldn’t stop reading it. I would like to recommend this book as a love story for those who are romantic like me. I found the book explanation of how the paint of the girl with the pearl earring was done moving: the colours, the shines, the reason for the earring…That’s beacuse I had seen the original picture in a trip to Holland and I can say that it’s worth-seeing.
On balance, I¡m satisfied with my decision of choosing this book.
Silvia Blanco