Susan Vreeland’s first novel follows a mysterious painting from the present day back through the lives of its owners. The book, which is made up of eight independent but intertwined stories, begins with a reclusive professor who is hiding what he believes is an authentic Vermeer painting and, with it, his father’s dark past. As each story retraces the painting’s ownership we are given a glimpse of the profound affect art can have in lives both ordinary and extraordinary. A young girl takes solace in the painting’s silent subject during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. An infant is left, along with the beautiful painting, at the window of a Dutch farmhouse during a devastating flood. In the final chapters we return to the moment of the painting’s creation and the mystery of its true origin is revealed. Susan Vreeland’s beautiful prose and attention to detail bring to life the Dutch landscape. Barbara Hoffert writes in Library Journal, “each vignette has the stillness, the polish, and the balanced perfection of a Vermeer.” Girl in Hyacinth Blue is a great read for art lovers and anyone who enjoys a finely written story!