Quiet, gentle, kind, daring are just a few words that come to mind describing this delightful novella.
A Man Studies A Vermeer Painting In Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum vs. The Painting In Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum Observes The Man Studying Her.
What a fantastic concept! And while this exchange takes place in present day, the reader learns what really happened in Vermeer's studio in the late 1600's and how this painting came to be.
I couldn't put it down and the smile never left my face. The twist in the ending is phenominal, what a beauty!

Thank you Netgalley and Fairlight Books for the ARC.

2.5

Woman in Blue is a story about art and love, and how love is shown through art. Story follows Vermeer, his Woman in Blue and a man, centuries later, obsessing over picture of one woman dressed in a blue bed jacket reading a letter.

The premise is intriguing and I loved observations and commentary on the picture itself. Last chapter was phenomenal and brimming with emotions.

BUT the story lacked: woman’s POV chapters were plain and a bit irritating, some parts were not very believable, the prose is trying too hard to be poetic (though sometimes it succeeds).

All in all, interesting idea - not the best execution. Nevertheless, I would read more from the author and I encourage writing more of these original stories! I do recommend it if you are an art lover, but even if not the book is quite short (in the form of novella) and maybe it could give you a nudge towards this painter and his work.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

" The Woman in Blue looks a little different each time I see her. Like something known and yet still like something new"

Douglas Bruton has created a beautiful mediation upon what it is to love and be loved; different types of love; to be spellbound in love and how love is this wonderful ephemeral feeling that weaves itself around our lives

The Woman in Blue Reading a Letter by Vermeer is s the focus of this slim but powerful novel- certainly a one-sit read for most impact.

Moving between the observations and emotions that bewitch a writer as he visits the painting each day in the Rijksmuseum and also the story of the young woman in the painting- as we witness the story behind the painting and her feelings as Vermeer endeavours to create his masterpiece but also the magical realism from the subject of the painting being very much aware of her modern day viewer and internally responding to his thoughts.

Comparisons could be made to the Girl with the Pearl Earring but that would be to miss the point of the novel- the transformative power of art ; as a passive viewer and for the 'sitter/subject' of a work.

How much time do we really devote to artworks in galleries? How much do we really immerse ourselves in the 'still ' beauty of a piece of art? How do we respond to the emotions that beauty can provoke within?

This is a sublime novel - sensitive, searching and hypnotic. Highly recommended to lovers of historical fiction; lovers of art ; lovers of the exploration of intimacy in the smallest moments