An international bestseller with over two million copies sold, this is a story of an artist's desire for beauty & the ultimate corruption of innocence. 17th Century Holl&. When Griet becomes a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer in the town of Delft, she thinks she knows her role: housework, laundry & the care of his six children. But as she becomes part of his world & his work, their growing intimacy spreads tension & deception in the ordered household &, as the scandal seeps out, into the town beyond. Tracy Chevalier's extraordinary historical novel on the corruption of innocence & the price of genius is a contemporary classic perfect for fans of Sarah Dunant & Philippa Gregory.