Girl in Hyacinth Blue: Summary 4

When I read the next 48 pages of Girl In Hyacinth Blue, I thought that Susan Vreeland did a good job on continuing the story. I left off when a woman named Saskia and her family found the painting in a boat with a baby. Saskia's husband, Stijn wanted to sell the painting because their family was running low on money. So one day, Saskia went to a shop to try and sell the painting, but the salesman only would give her 25 guilders for it, and since it was worth more than that to her, she did not take the deal. She went to another shop who told her that the famous artist van der Meer was really named Vermeer, which is what we have been trying to uncover throughout the whole story. The shopkeeper from the second shop told Saskia that it was a Vermeer and "You take this painting to Amsterdam. It'll fetch a far sight more there than I can pay. Or anyone in Groningen. Take it to the shops along the Rokin. Accept nothing less than eighty guilders." (pg 134) Saskia thought that this was a big deal because eighty guilders was a lot of money. Yet, she did not know if she wanted to sell it yet. So when she arrived home, she hung the painting back on the wall. She knew that Stijn would be mad that she kept it, so she made a plan that when he asked how much it was worth, she would tell him that it was only 4 guilders. But when they were in bed that night, it was dark (of course) and since she could admit things in the dark, she told him the truth about orphaning the painting. That is when the family decided that they were going to go to Amsterdam. Saskia finally sold the painting to a shop owner in Amsterdam for 75 guilders. " It wasn't eighty, but it was still victory." (pg 154) The next scene of the story was about a young girl. She seemed like the kind of girl that all the guys want. That is all that I got up to in the story, though. This story has a very unique way of being told backwards, and i find it very interesting. It is kind of like that episode of Seinfield where the whole episode was told backwards. It is a really cool view on what happened in a story. It is kind of confusing at the beginning of each chapter because you have to start fresh with new characters and new scenery, but once you get going, it makes perfect sense. I am really enjoying this story just because it is really interesting to see all these different people have this painting, and how it gets passed down, but also how they each admire the painting in a different way. This story is very interesting so far.