Saturday Reading Group

Saturday Reading Group | 05/03/2022 | 3:00 pm-4:30 pm

Saturday Reading Group

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. This Saturday, the group will read Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.

Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Dutch painter Vermeer’s prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. The title comes from Vermeer’s famous painting of a young girl. Vermeer painted scenes from ordinary life. This book is equally a portrait of everyday life in seventeenth-century Delft, as lived by ordinary people. In order to support her family, seventeen year old Griet becomes a maid in the house of Johannes Vermeer and soon attracts the master painters attention. Although worlds apart in upbringing and social standing, Vermeer recognizes her intuitive understanding of his work and slowly draws her into his mysterious world of art and passion. Whilst she falls increasingly under Vermeers spell, his volatile family quickly grows jealous of her. Maria, his shrewd mother-in-law, struggles to maintain the familys lifestyle, but seeing that Griet inspires Vermeer, takes the decision to let their relationship develop. Van Ruijven, also sensing the intimacy between master and maid, commissions Vermeer to paint Griets portrait. The result will be one of the greatest paintings ever created  but at what cost?

Meetings are once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Open to all library members. To sign up please contact the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.


Location: English-language Library in Angers