#173 in Historical fiction
Girl with a Pearl Earring
- 271
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is a restrained, character-driven historical novel that imagines the story behind Vermeer’s painting. Its seventeenth-century Delft feels lived in, and the bond between painter and model is one some readers prize because it is not written as a love affair. Some find the pace very slow, and not everyone is won over; those who are may find themselves looking up the paintings afterwards.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. Set in 17th-century Delft, Holland, the novel was inspired by local painter Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Chevalier presents a fictional account of Vermeer, the model and the painting. The novel was adapted into a 2003 film of the same name and a 2008 play. In May 2020, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a new dramatisation of the novel.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.3 across 289 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 66% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.2 | 26 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 263 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is Girl with a Pearl Earring?
It has 271 pages — shorter than 85% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 7.5 and 7.7, closest to this book.
