Griet is a young 16-year-old girl in a conservative protestant middle class family in early renaissance era. After an accident blinds her father, she takes a job working as a maid at the residence of Johannes Vermeer, a celebrated painter. Griet is initially intimidated by the Vermeer household, staunch Catholics. But she learns to deal with the mistress, the other maid, the children and their shenanigans, the old mother-in-law, and most importantly, is tasked with cleaning Vermeer’s studio every day.
Slowly, over a period of time, she moves to becoming Vermeer’s assistant, preparing both his model settings as well as the mixing his colours for him. She becomes an indispensible part of his work process, when she catches the eye of Vermeer’s patron, who demands a painting of her for his collection. Vermeer, though not entirely happy, proceeds to make his best known work with his young maid as his model. This gets her into trouble with her mistress, though, and she has to deal with her wrath.
In a seamless blending of history and fiction, Chevalier paints a vivid picture of seventeenth century Holland. Reading the book transports you to the streets, canals and markets of Delft, making the reader visualize the sights, hear the sounds and smell the pungent odours. The novel is well-crafted, and the prose is well-paced and flows evenly. It is evident that most of the novel is fictional. Little is known about any of Vermeer’s models in real life. Much of the details are extrapolated well, without being overly fantastical or unbelievable. The characters are well drawn and believable.
On the whole, this is a delightful, fast read.