Price: $9.99
(as of Jan 20, 2025 23:25:55 UTC – Details)
This New York Times bestseller explores the life and many owners of an imaginary Vermeer painting in an “impressive debut collection” of linked stories (Publishers Weekly).
A Dutch painting of a young girl survives three and a half centuries of loss, flood, anonymity, theft, secrecy, and even the Holocaust. This is the story of its owners whose lives are influenced by its beauty and mystery. Despite their many troubles and unsatisfied longings, the girl in hyacinth blue has the power to inspire love in all its human variety.
This luminous story begins in the present day, when a professor invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer—but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of events that trace the ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work’s inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner’s hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in multiple lives. Susan Vreeland’s characters remind us, through their love of this mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable.
“Vreeland’s book is a work of art.” —New York Post
ASIN : B07X8ZQVF9
Publisher : RosettaBooks (March 18, 2012)
Publication date : March 18, 2012
Language : English
File size : 3084 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 145 pages
Customers say
Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They appreciate the detailed history of a painting and its journey through time. The story is described as interesting and enchanting, with a wonderful panorama of internal dramas. Readers appreciate the meticulous historical research and accurate description of 17th and 18th century life. They enjoy the characters’ development, which fictionalizes real people. The author’s style is described as different and enjoyable, providing an interesting review of individuals who had contact with the painting.
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