Girl with a Pearl Earring cover art

Girl with a Pearl Earring

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Girl with a Pearl Earring

By: Tracy Chevalier
Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
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About this listen

An international best seller with over two million copies sold, this is a story of an artist's desire for beauty and the ultimate corruption of innocence.

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.

©2006 Tracy Chevalier (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Historical Fiction Fiction
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Great read/listen! It’s the second book by the author that I’ve read and both have been great.

Enchanting story

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I really enjoyed this. Like A Single Thread, it was beautifully and emphatically written. A slow, character driven novel, this was well researched and and delightfully pulled together. The narrator - Hattie Morahan - was wonderful. I'm not usually a fan of 'art fiction', but this pulled me close and kept me engaged throughout. I've now read two of Tracy Chevalier's books and I'm looking forward to number three.

Delightful

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Hattie Morahan made this a very pleasing experience with her lovely English and gentle voice. I enjoyed the story and the painting references and aspects of history. I'm not sure its even based on truth but listening while looking at the painting referred to in the title, makes it quite special. I'll check for further titles by the same author and narrator. Thank you.

A lovely gentle story

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A fascinating story about the artist Vermeer and how it came about that he painted the masterpiece of the girl with the petal earring. I loved every minute.

Intriguing story

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I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this beautiful story. Hatti’s voice is perfect and easy to listen to.

Beautifully read

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It is always one of my favorite book, and the narrator made it even more vivid and touching. I like how the narrator changed her tone when different characters speak.
If you have no knowledge about Vermeer, Renaissance or the classic painting, you might think it is just another normal bitter love story. However, if you do, you will find it is very beautifully weaved into the painting and the time. It creates a tone, which is clam and romantic with a trace of melancholy.
I have to say Peter is actually my favorite character, he is smart, kind, handsome, hardworking and caring to young heroine, even sometimes she is very childish and annoying.
I strongly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction or arts.

Beautifully weaved story

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struggled a bit to listen its a slow story the narrator was OK interesting

nice listen

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An interesting take on how the paint came to (perhaps) be. Loved the intricacies of the characters and their interactions with each other. Was very interesting to get a taste of life back then, including the painting process.
While I loved the narration, I found it distracting that the narration didn’t reflect the origins or setting of the story and wasn’t in a Dutch accent (the movie adaptation is also very English, I’ve since found).

Great story and lovely narration - just without a Dutch accent

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I really loved it, it was such a beautiful story about such a extraordinary painting

A enchanting story

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I looked forward to this being a great story rich in history. However if failed all round. The story was weak. The interesting times and the potential for creating more detail was missing as far as the famous and subsequent characters were concerned. Could have been great but was lacking.

Disappointed

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