A book that makes you think about how your attitude and action towards others of a different race can change when events in your life, your community, or the world around you change; and how the culture we grow up in can cloud our judgement when we look at people of a different culture.

A wonderful story about a sensitive young girl who becomes a servant in the Vermeer household. She is caught between Vermeer and his family, Vermeer and his overbearing patron, and her own conflicted feelings while trying to maintain a sense of self and control of her life. This was a fun book to discuss with our reading group and everyone enjoyed it.

I was disappointed with this book after having enjoyed "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister". Maguire's writing is awfully crude at times and some of the scenes were totally unnecessary and bizarre. There were also incidents and characters written into the story that didn't really go anywhere ...almost as if he had forgotten to finish what he had started. All in all, a rather complicated book that doesn't leave you with a satisfied feeling at the end. I don't think I'll be reading any more of his books.