Publisher details

Author: Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Historical Fiction
Released: 27 December, 1999

Girl with a Pearl Earring

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Synopsis

17th Century Holland. When Griet becomes a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer in the town of Delft, she thinks she knows her role: housework, laundry and the care of his six children. But as she becomes part of his world and his work, their growing intimacy spreads tension and deception in the ordered household and, as the scandal seeps out, into the town beyond.Tracy Chevalier’s extraordinary historical novel on the corruption of innocence and the price of genius is a contemporary classic perfect for fans of Sarah Dunant and Philippa Gregory. 'A portrait of radiance…Tracy Chevalier brings the real artist Vermeer and a fictional muse to life in a jewel of a novel' Time‘Chevalier doesn't put a foot wrong in this triumphant work … It is a beautifully written tale that mirrors the elegance of the painting that inspired it’ Wall Street Journal'It has a slow, magical current of its own that picks you up and carries you stealthily along…a beautiful story, lovingly told by a very talented writer' Daily Mail'A wonderful novel, mysterious, steeped in atmosphere, deeply revealing about the process of painting…truly magical' Guardian'Outstanding.' USA Today 'Marvelously evocative.' The New York Times 'Superb...vividly captures the world of 17th century Delft.' The San Francisco Chronicle

About the author

Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier grew up in Washington, DC. She moved to England in 1984, and graduated in 1994 from the MA course in creative writing at the University of East Anglia.Her first novel, The Virgin Blue, was chosen by WH Smith for its Fresh Talent promotion in 1997. In 2000, HarperCollins published Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has gone on to sell over two million copies worldwide. Falling Angels was published to much critical acclaim in 2002, The Lady and the Unicorn, followed in 2004 and Burning Bright in 2007, followed by the bestselling Remarkable Creatures in 2009. Her most recent novel The Last Runaway was chosen as an R&J pick in 2013.The film of Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Colin Firth as Vermeer, was released in the UK in 2003. It was nominated for 10 BAFTAs and two Academy Awards.Tracy Chevalier lives in North London with her husband and son.