Girl in Hyacinth Blue: Summary 3

When I read the next 48 pages of Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, (144 pages total,) I thought that it was very interesting to see who had the painting next. It started off with a young woman named Claudine. She was married to this man named Gerard who at one point slept with another woman. You see, Claudine was forced to marry Gerard, but she did not really love him, and when she and Gerard went to see a concert, they both found themselves sleeping with other people. Now, Gerard gave the painting of the girl to Claudia a while before this, but when she realized that both of them would get in trouble for sleeping with other people, she had to sell the painting for money to move away with. " Trying not to look, I wrapped it in muslin the next morning and called for a carriage. The papers, which Gerard kept in his strongbox, I would have to do without." (pg 105.) She sold the painting for 24 guilders, (not enough for a carriage,) and escaped the country to France. When Claudine left the country, she was not sad for Gerard, or the person who she slept with, Monsieur le C, but for the painting. The next scene took place at a farm. There was a woman named Saskia who was a mother and a wife to a man named Stijn. One night, they saw something floating in the water from the flood that happened two days before and went out in their boat to go get it. When they reached the objects, they found not only the painting, but a baby also. On the back of the painting it stated: "Sell the painting. Feed the child." (pg 114). But Saskia did not sell the painting. She kept it hidden to not remind Stijn to sell it, and only admired it when he was not home. Stijn hears about a wild witch murder incident and starts to think that the baby is the murderer's son. I think that this story is moving along very fast-pased, even though this was the slowest part of the story that I have read so far. It is really cool to see how each owner thinks that the painting was painted by someone different and how each owner has a encounter with something in the color of hyacinths. Claudine wanted hyacinths at her encounter with Monsieur le C, and the baby that Saskia found was wearing a hyacinth-colored blanket. Each main character in these 48 pages, Claudine and Saskia, do not want to part with the painting. They each find themselves in the painting, just like the characters from other chapters. Saskia even wants her daughter, Marta, to be just like the girl in the painting when she grows up. It is really interesting to see how just a painting could change a person's life this much and make this much of a difference. I am looking forward to reading more of this novel.