Ami’s Review

from What's On! Mission March / April 2023

Publisher’s Note

I’m going to tell you about a beautiful novel... perhaps the most beautiful story I’ve ever read. It’s partly a coming of age story, partly a lesson in art and Vermeer, partly a window into upstairs/ downstairs life, and partly a love story. On the whole its amazing, and it’s called Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.

The year is 1664, and sixteen year old Griet is called to work as a servant in the home of the painter Vermeer, and his wife Catharina. Griet is quickly assigned the task of cleaning her master’s art room because of her unusual eye for detail. Vermeer is particular about his room and his possessions, and she naturally understands the care and precision that’s required.

Vermeer and Griet rarely cross paths, but because she is often in his painting studio, her appreciation and insight into his work and artistic process grows. His skill, his vision, even his moods begin to intrigue and entice her. She is young, and he is aloof and talented. She longs to please him and seek his favour.

Then, during a party where Griet is serving, one of Vermeer’s drunk friends accosts her, his fingers grab-

MISSION’S

bing her chin in the candlelight so he can examine her face. “You should paint her,” he says to Vermeer.

Griet is released from his grasp and scurries away, but the idea has been seeded with her master.

The next time Vermeer sees Griet, she is cleaning the windows in his studio, the light falling on her.

“Look over your shoulder at me again.”

And so begins the (fictional) story of how Vermeer came to paint one of his most famous paintings, and the girl who was his muse.

If you have read this book already, you’ll know, this story is a treasure. The writing is perfect, the history is vibrant, and the tension between sacrifice, attraction, and love is palpable as told through the voice of a girl on the cusp of womanhood.