Last summer, I reviewed Susan Vreeland’s novel “Girl in Hyacinth Blue,” and found it fascinating. Wanting to know more about the woman behind the book, I decided to focus this author review on her.
Susan taught high school English for thirty years and in fact, wrote a handbook for students called “What Engish Teachers Want.” She began her writing career with magazine articles and newspaper stories in 1980, working her way into novels from there with her first fiction piece, “What Love Sees,” published in 1988 and later made into a television movie.
Frequently mistaken to be the author of “Girl With the Pearl Earring,” who is in actuality Tracy Chevalier, she has written a couple of books with paintings as their theme. The most famous would be “Girl in Hyacinth Blue,” published in 1999, which was the finalist for the Book Sense Book of the Year Award. It has become part of the required reading at colleges across the country, and was even filmed for the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie series.
“The Passion of Artemisia,” published in 2002, tells the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman in history who earned money with her artwork. Although fascinating, her story is one of abuse, and so I chose not to review it for Families.com. You might, however, be interested in reading it independently.
“The Forest Lover,” published in 2004, is about Emily Carr, a Canadian painter who went into the wilderness of Columbia to paint native totemic carvings. I have not yet read this book but look forward to doing so.
Susan’s books have received much critical praise and have been translated into twenty-five languages. I find her writing style to be as rich and descriptive as the paintings she loves so well, and I will continue to follow her career.
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