From Amazon:
A brilliant historical novel on the corruption of innocence, using the famous painting by Vermeer as an inspiration. Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in seventeeth century Holland, obtains her first job, as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us through Griet's eyes, the complicated family, the society of the small town of Delft, and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life, and leaving her former drudgery, but the cost to her own survival may be high.


...and from me:

What a beautifully written book it is, and so atmospheric. I loved it & couldn't put it down, continued reading it until I finished it off in one sitting!

This is a second copy I've been lucky to find, for wild releasing.

One of the books in the box of goodies I picked up from Molyneux at the Cherry Tree.