Cambridge Wizard Student Guide Girl with a Pearl Earring

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersThe unknown subject of a Vermeer masterpiece is the basis for this remarkably evocative novel. The illiterate young Griet, held captive by the strict social order of 17th-century Delft, becomes a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer to help support her family. She knows her role tend the laundry, keep up with the housework, and make sure Vermeer’s six children stay out of the way. Griet even thinks she can handle Vermeer’s shrewd mother-in-law, his bitter, neglected wife, and the family’s jealous servant. But what no one suspects is that Griet’s quiet manner, uncanny perception, and fascination with her master’s paintings will draw her inexorably into the painter’s private world. And as Griet witnesses the creative process of a great master, her long-suppressed passion becomes the catalyst for a scandal that irrevocably changes her life. (Summer 2000 Selection)