Friday, after finishing I’m Not Scared, I started The Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Like I’m not scared it’s one of the books that had been sitting on my shelf for a good long while now that I never got around to reading. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure why I bought it when I snagged it to bring to California with us. I’m glad I did too.
As I discovered upon finishing, the book, written by Sue Vreeland was the first novel written by the author of the Passion of Artemesia (her second novel), which I had read a while ago. Again, this time she delves into the art world and history only the heroine of our story isn’t an artist but really a painting, a questionable (and yes fictionalized) work by Vermeer of, yes you guessed it, a girl in hyacinth blue. Ms. Vreeland writes maybe a dozen chapters (I didn’t count them), starting in so-called present day United States, tracing the history of the painting through each and every owner, right back to it’s creation in the 17th century. You could almost read it as a collection of short stories with the painting as the only common element. Another quick read that didn’t even last me past the Rockie Mountains but worth the go. Now I need to remember to check to see if she has since published any other novels.