Vermeer's Daughter: A Novel

by Barbara Shoup

National YA prize-winning author Shoup has created a fictional portrait of the 17th-century world of the great Dutch artist Vermeer as seen through the eyes of his daughter, Carelina. Family relationships, daily life, and the artistic talents and aspirations of a young girl in the male-dominated art world make this beautifully told tale fascinating for young people. Fans of the nationally bestselling Girl with a Pearl Earring will enjoy this spirited and inspiring tale.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

164 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Barbara Shoup is the author of eight novels for adults and young adults, most recently An American Tune and Looking for Jack Kerouac, as well as a memoir, A Commotion in Your Heart: Notes about Writing and Life. She is the co-author of Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process and Story Matters., as well as in The Writer and the New York Times travel section. Her young adult novels, Wish You Were Here and Stranded in Harmony were selected as American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. The recipient of the PEN Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Fellowship and grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, she is the Writer-in-Residence at the Indiana Writers Center and a faculty member at Art Workshop International.

Reviews

[Paige Pell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met the author recently and am excited to explore her works.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barbara Shoup presents an interesting way of viewing Vermeer's life: through the eyes of one of his daughters, who is herself an artist at heart. Though this is entirely a work of fiction, it still brings to life one of the most famous painters in history, and the Reader is left feeling like they actually know Vermeer.

Beautifully written, Vermeer's Daughter is an intriguing novel which focuses on some of Vermeer's most famous works. The mammoth-load of Dutch names can make it difficult to get through (there is, unfortunately, no pronunciation key in the back), but once you have worked that out to a satisfactory degree, the story is easy to become immersed in. It is a very fast read, being only 160 pages long, but it is a story which all ages would enjoy.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, gentle, with beautiful descriptions of paintings and the visual world, and interesting tidbits about the lives of Vermeer and his contemporaries, although the plot itself is rather inconsequential, and I was disappointed to read in the afterword that the character and all her life events were utterly fictitious. Though there's a fun tie-in with Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, which I read recently, though, because Fabritius' painting is hanging in Vermeer's studio, and his daughter learns to paint by studying it.

[Sandibaumcomcast.Net · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love Vermeer you will appreciate the research this author has accomplished in order to develop her work of fiction. You can follow along most of his major works and see aspects of each one that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

[Eleanor Groom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good YA book.

[Rosalind Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the father - daughter relationship.