Girl in Hyacinth Blue: Summary 2

When I read the next 48 pages of Girl in Hyacinth Blue, by Susan Vreeland, I thought that the story got more interesting. I find it really cool how the story goes back in time to show how the painting got passed down. Hannah realized why she love the painting so much: because the girl in the painting had quietness. Just like Hannah, the girl in the painting was reserved, "but that didn't mean that the girl didn't want anything, like Mother said about her" (pg 51). Hannah loves this painting so much because the painting girl is just like herself. With all the commotion going on with the Germans trying to get rid of the Jews, the only person who understands her is the painting girl. When it is passover, Hannah's mom tells her to go buy her some eggs and parsley for their meal, shared with the two refugee families that their family was taking in. As she is going to get the ingredients, she passes by another Jewish family with the Star of David on their coats. The family is holding suitcases, and there is a little boy resembling Hannah's brother Toby who looked scared. That is when she realized that something bad was going on, although she didn't know what it was. Even though she knew something bad was happening, on that passover evening, "Real living had begun" (pg 59). The next scene that took place was when a man, Laurens van Luyken, and his wife, Digna, were taking a walk. It was autumn, and this couple was following their daughter, Johanna, and her fiance Fritz. Laurens is watching how his daughter is growing up and thinking about how he is going to have to give her away and let her leave the place where she grew up, Vreeland. He and Digna started to think about what to give their daughter for their marriage. That is when Digna has the idea to give them the painting of Girl With a Sewing Basket, because Johanna had always loved it. When Digna mentions this, Laurens says no because he had given that painting to Digna as an anniversary gift. They start talking about the painting and Laurens says how the dealer who he got the artwork from said that it was a de Hooch, not a Vermeer. Then Laurens starts thinking about how important the painting was, and starts to think: "If instead of looking out the window, the girl were looking in, at us, she would surely think we were enviable creatures" (pg 81). This is because Laurens was thinking about how the painting reminded him of another girl that he had loved in the past, and that is why he didn't want to give it away to his daughter. The next holder of the painting is a girl who once had a boyfriend who had given her the painting: "It was a small painting Gerard had brought me of a young girl whose skin had the sheen of transparent peaches. She was looking out an open window with such a sweet, naive expression on her face, though at first I thought it was a bit vacant" (pg 84). Gerard had told the girl that the painting was not a Vermeer, but a van der Meer. It is really cool to see how all the different people who rest their eyes on the painting all have different views on it and how each holder thinks that there is a different artist who painted it. I think that further on in the novel, we are going to find more people who the painting was passed down to. There is a lot of history going on in this novel, including the holocaust. We also travel through different countries, from Germany to France (I think that it's France) to America. What is really interesting about this painting is that so many people can find there self in it. Hannah found a quiet, kept-to-herself kind of girl. Laurens found a past time love in it. I really like this novel so far. It teaches me that there are so many people in the world and each person has a different point of view. I am looking forward to read the rest.