Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier

Characters
Real	Fictional
Johannes Vermeer Catharina – wife Eleven children including: Cornelia – most unpredictable Maertge – oldest, same age as Agnes Maria Thins – Catharina’s mother Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – Father of Microbiology, (According to Bill Bryson in A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), it is a rumor that he invented the camera obscura.) Pieter van Ruijven – Vermeer’s patron.  (No evidence to support portrayal as a predator.) Maria - wife	Griet Mother and Father Frans – brother, age 13 Agnes – sister, age 10, died during plague Pieter – butcher Pieter – son, married Griet Tanneke – Vermeer’s maid Griet and Pieter’s sons: Frans and Jan

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers are from paperback edition of the novel.

1. Griet always kept her hair completely covered.  Why?  When Vermeer saw her hair, Griet thought, “Now that he had seen my hair…I could be freer…It no longer mattered what I did and did not do” (page 196).  Why was keeping her hair concealed so important to her.
2. Griet was 16 at the beginning of the novel and 18 when it ended.  Did her portrayal seem appropriate to her age?
3. On page 53 when Griet was at the market with Maertge and she saw Agnes, she ignored Agnes because she had, “…two families not, and they must not mix.”   Why?
4. Frans told Griet that at the beginning of his apprenticeship he almost ran away, “…because he could not face the strangeness day after day” (page 27).   When Griet, Protestant, moved in with the Vermeer’s who were Catholic, she thought, “It was a curious feeling, having to be aware of it myself” (page 31).   Have you ever been in a similar situation where you felt out of place?  How did you deal with it?
5. Discuss Cornelia and why she was so mean to Griet.   Cornelia threw a pot into the river when Griet was getting water (pages 22-23), was mean to her about Agnes’ death (page 75), and broke the tile painted by Griet’s father (page 97).
6. After the incident where Cornelia tried to set Griet up to take blame for stealing Catharina’s comb and was found out, people’s attitude toward Griet changed: Catharina was afraid of her, Maria Thins seemed to treat her with respect, and Tanneke was nicer toward her.  Why did their attitudes change?
7. Did you like the ending when Griet slapped Cornelia on her way out of the house with the earrings Vermeer instructed Catharina to give her after he died? (page 232)
8. Given the context of the times, were you surprised that Vermeer was so unconcerned about what would happen to Griet after he painted her wearing Catharina’s earrings?
9. Did you find Griet’s artistic ability realistic?  On page 5 she sorted the vegetables for the soup by color because certain colors “fight when they are side by side…”  Also, on page 132, Griet saw a problem with Vermeer’s painting before he did.
10. In the book, van Leeuwenhoek was credited with inventing the camera obscure and van Ruijven was portrayed as a predator, both of which are inaccurate.  How much license can an author take when writing historical fiction?
11. When Vermeer and Griet were discussing the meaning of a painting, Vermeer said, “It’s not the painting that is Catholic or Protestant…but the people who look at it, and what they expect to see” (pages 140-1).  Can we say the same thing about books – can two different people read the same book differently?  How can we keep an open mind so that our predetermined expectations do not influence how we see art or read a book?
12. What books have you read that helped you see something in a different way or helped you better understand someone else’s point of view?
13. After reading this book, will you view art differently?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah

Julia

Starzynksi family: Wladyslaw Rywka Sirka / Sarah Michel Veldrome d’Hiver Vel’ d’Hiv Codename: Operation Spring Breeze Rachel – escaped with Sarah Genevieve and Jules Dufaure Stephanie Dufaure – Sarah – pretend granddaughter Nicolas – grandson William Rainsferd – Sarah’s son

Tezac family: Julia Jarmand Bertrand Zoe Sarah Colette and Edouard – Bertrand’s parents Mame and Andre (deceased) – grandparents – moved into Sarah’s apartment end of July 1942 Amelie – Bertrand’s mistress Antoine – Bertrand’s business associate Siene Scenes: Joshua – boss Bamber – photo director Alessandre – features editor Jarmand family in US: Sean and Heather Carter Charla – sister Franck Levy – Association to find survivors Herve and Christophe – Julia’s friends Guillaume – grandmother survived round-up

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. Even after Julia lived in France for 25 years, Bertrand’s parents still referred to her as “The American.”  Does this in some way parallel the idea that children such as Sarah were Jewish even though they were born in France?    Why do we feel compelled to label people?
2. Bertrand’s family was surprised that Julia wanted to go by her maiden name.  If you have been married awhile and took your husband’s name, did you think there was an option?   Would you do the same if you were younger and getting married today?
3. How did you feel about Bertrand?  I felt he was a very negative character until Julia’s pregnancy when the author began to show a different side of him.   Did your feelings about him change throughout the novel?
4. Were you able understand Bertrand’s desire to abort the baby when he explained that he was getting older and that he didn’t “want to be seventy when this child is twenty” (page 136).  Julia’s doctor agreed and “suggested that maybe he was going through a midlife crisis.   That the responsibility of another child was too much for him to bear” (page 152).
5. Were you surprised that the French people had no idea about the history of July 1942?  In several instances throughout the novel people ignored various plaques commemorating the events.  When Julia talked with a man who had been 15 at the time, he said “I stopped thinking about it.  We all have…We don’t want to remember” (page 144).  Can you understand their feelings?
6. What did you think about Andre not telling his wife about Sarah and Michel and telling his son, Edouard, to do the same?  Did he understand how this would affect Edouard?  In the same vein, why did Edouard never tell his wife and children?
7. Was the Terza family a good way to describe the two sides of the French people’s views, either forgetting or remembering the history?
8. Sarah’s parents kept everything that was happening against the Jewish people from her.  When they were taken from her home, she wondered is they had been right to protect her and if things would be easier to bear is she had known everything.  Were they right to protect her?  What would you do?
9. Was Julia justified in finding William Rainsford and telling him something so painful about his past?  Were you surprised that he did not know his mother’s story?
10. Did you understand Julia’s feelings when she was asked by Gaspard Dufaure, who knew Sarah, why she, as an American, would feel sorry when the Americans had freed France in 1944.  Julia’s response was, “Sorry for not knowing.  Sorry for being forty-five years old and not knowing” (page 192).
11. Did you like the way the author went between the two time periods?  Was this effective to your understanding and enjoyment of the book?
12. Did you learn anything from this book or think about something you were not aware of before reading?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and  Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right link.