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Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
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Girl in Hyacinth Blue (original 1999; edition 2000)

by Susan Vreeland

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3,141934,256 (3.61)174
Eight linked stories tracing the history of a painting by the 17th century Dutch artist, Vermeer. In one, he paints his daughter to pay off debts, a second story describes the loss of the ownership papers, a third takes place on the eve of its theft by the Nazis. By the author of What Love Sees.
Member:applebook1
Title:Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Authors:Susan Vreeland
Info:Penguin Books (2000), Paperback, 256 pages
Collections:Read but unowned
Rating:***1/2
Tags:None

Work Information

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland (1999)

  1. 40
    Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (Nickelini)
    Nickelini: Both books are historical fiction surrounding a Vermeer painting, but The Girl with the Pearl Earring is a far superior book.
  2. 30
    People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (whymaggiemay)
    whymaggiemay: Both well written, and both follow an art object from end to beginning, through the hands of those who once owned it.
  3. 10
    The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland (conceptDawg)
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» See also 174 mentions

English (91)  Italian (1)  German (1)  All languages (93)
Showing 1-5 of 91 (next | show all)
I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. Things were a bit confusing at first until I figured out the rhythm of the book. Vreeland is writing on a timeline spanning hundreds of years but she begins at the end and works backwards. I did not like this method at all and was frustrated that there wasn't a clear changing of hands between time periods---it made it hard to see these as connected stories surrounding this one painting. Instead, it seemed like I was reading a disconnected collection of short stories. It also would have been so nice to have dates at the beginning of each chapter to help imagine the setting. Instead, by the time I had the approximate decade figured out, the story was over. I also would have liked to see her interview at the beginning of the book as a forward. This would have explained some things and helped set the tone for an otherwise convoluted bunch of stories. These things made it very difficult to connect with these stories.

I do give Vreeland very high marks for research though. Everything from early 18th century drainage mills to Erasmus to pigeon keeping was described in satisfactory detail.

I did love the last two stories, though the "mystery" she alludes to in her interview was not at all a mystery---it was pretty clear from the beginning of the story who was the true artist. ( )
  classyhomemaker | Dec 11, 2023 |
I love Vreeland's books. This is not my favorite though. ( )
  JRobinW | Jan 20, 2023 |
Beautifully-written historical fiction, told in reverse chronological order through a series of eight interconnected short stories, about the provenance of a fictional painting purported to be by Vermeer.
I was impressed by the author’s ability to create the mood of each time-period over the course of approximately three hundred years. I thought the author did an excellent job of showing how each of the painting’s custodians imbued a personal meaning into the artwork and did not part with it lightly, revealing the power of art to impact the life of an individual. Themes include the timelessness of great works of art and how art evokes different, but equally valid, reactions in each person. If you enjoyed [b:Girl with a Pearl Earring|2865|Girl with a Pearl Earring|Tracy Chevalier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327197580s/2865.jpg|3358875] or [b:The Last Painting of Sara de Vos|25664459|The Last Painting of Sara de Vos|Dominic Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494524049s/25664459.jpg|45487238], you will likely appreciate [b:Girl in Hyacinth Blue|321577|Girl in Hyacinth Blue|Susan Vreeland|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1364742503s/321577.jpg|19815]. Recommended to fans of historical fiction or art-related literature.
( )
  Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 |
Loved it - traces a painting backwards from the hands of a math teacher to it's origin. Through several centuries, it
affects the owner's lives in different but impactful ways. How does beauty transform us? Why do we crave it? Can we own it? Will it last? ( )
  MartyB2000 | Jul 22, 2022 |
Really good read. Interesting novel. ( )
  LeahWiederspahn | Jun 2, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 91 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (27 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Susan Vreelandprimary authorall editionscalculated
Holleman, WimTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
Thou still unravished bride of quietness
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time...
Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity.
- John Keats, 1819
O ongeschonden bruid van stille vrede,
pleegkind van den tijd die langzaam gaat...
Jij doet ons denken hoog ter aard'uit stijgen
zoals de eeuwigheid.
Dedication
For Scott Godfrey, D.O., and Peter Falk, M.D.
First words
Cornelius Engelbrecht invented himself. (Love Enough)
Quotations
She thought of all the people in all the paintings she had seen that day, not just Father's, in all the paintings of the world, in fact. Their eyes, the particular turn of a head, their loneliness or suffering or grief was borrowed by an artist to be seen by other people throughout the years who would never see them face to face. People who would be that close to her, she thought, a matter of a few arms' lengths, looking, looking, and they would never know her.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Eight linked stories tracing the history of a painting by the 17th century Dutch artist, Vermeer. In one, he paints his daughter to pay off debts, a second story describes the loss of the ownership papers, a third takes place on the eve of its theft by the Nazis. By the author of What Love Sees.

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Book description
Love Enough

A Night Different From All Other Nights

Adagia

Hyacinth Blues

Morningshine

From the Personal Papers of Adriaan Kuypers

Still Life

Magdalena Looking.
Haiku summary

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