La ragazza con l'orecchino di perla by Tracy Chevalier

It was now her turn to earn the food that made it’s way into her belly. Her older brother had already been placed in a Delft tile factory. Her parents had decided, given their near destitution, to find Griet a position as a maid with a wealthy family. When the Vermeers came to visit Griet’s home she had no idea they were there for her. I could hear rich carpets in their voices, books and pearls and fur.” They were the kind of voices we heard rarely in our house. “I heard voices outside our front door - a woman's, bright as polished brass, and a man's, low and dark like the wood of the table I was working on. With Girl With a Pearl Earring (written in 1998), I became a full-time writer, and have since juggled it with motherhood Started writing short stories in my 20s, then began first novel, The Virgin Blue, during the MA year. Talked a lot about becoming a writer as a kid, but actual pen to paper contact was minimal. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better.

Even have dual citizenship – though I keep the American accent intact.ġ English husband + 1 English son + 1 tortoiseshell cat.īefore writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. I’m still in London, and still not entirely serious. I had studied for a semester in London and thought it was a great place, so came over for fun, expecting to go back to the US after 6 months to get serious. Moved to London after graduating from Oberlin in 1984. Why doesn’t anyone ask that of professional singers, painters, dancers? That year forced me to write all the time and take it seriously. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not you can be taught to write. MA in creative writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1994.

No one was surprised that I went there I was made for such a progressive, liberal place. Montgomery.īA in English, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1984.

Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.

La ragazza con l'orecchino di perla by Tracy Chevalier