Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier

Hello everybody, this is my first review in this Ciao, I've been a member of the Spanish Ciao for more than one year and now I have decided to join this ciao too. Especially in order to learn English (I'm studying it here in the languages school), but also in order to meet people and friends.

I want to begin with the last novel I've read, it's the wonderful "Girl with a pearl earring". It's a novel written by Tracy Chevalier, I haven't read other books of the author yet but I will do it when I have the opportunity.

In this book we can find a mixture of art, literature and history that are joined to a beautiful story in which we read what happens to a Dutch girl of the 17th century. Her father is an artisan and has an accident, so he loses his sight and can't work any more. So, she has to go to work as a maid to the house of a well-off family of the city. By chance he finishes serving in the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer. So we can discover the relationship between this girl and the rest of people who surround her there: the painter, the other maid, the painter's wife, his children, her stepmother. At the same time we can see how her life passes and the relationship with her family and a young man who is in love with her.
I don't want to tell anything more because I don't want to spoil you the story if you decide to read it.

One of the most interesting things of this book is that it's a historical book, so we know that the characters of the book exist, and we don't only know this, but also we can see them in the wonderful paintings of Vermeer. Especially his painting of the girl (called Griet) who is said The Dutch Mona Lisa.

I know there's a film based on this book but I hadn't seen it, I hadn't even seen a poster of the film.

Do not think you have to be interested in art, painting or history to read this book!, everybody can enjoy it anyway, and it's a good gift to make. I gave one to my mother in her birthday a couple of months ago.

It's amazing to see as the story happens and we read how the painter goes making his work, and after it, when we see the paintings we see them as very familiar.

Well, nothing more, when I'm allowed I'll put here images of the main paintings about which we can read in the book (I think I have to get green before!!!)