sixteen year old Griet it is helpful that she is quiet yet highly observational since she works as a maid. This trait serves her well in the Vermeer household, as she cleans and runs errands all day while paying close attention to the entire family. She takes particular interest in the Master of the house, Vermeer. She seemingly falls in love with his paintings, and this translates to infatuation with Vermeer himself. Griet and Vermeer have a strange and tense relationship, which is both remarkably subdued
At the start of the novel, Manod - a small town in Northern Wales – is largely insignificant. It lacks a sign on any road, so is very isolated and nobody knows where it is. On top of this it is miserable and grey, and almost always raining. Everybody is dull and reserved. Overlooking the town is a large, grey mountain which formerly served as a slate quarry. Therefore, all the houses have this grey slate on top of them. Even the children at the local primary school, when asked to paint their area
day in the hospital, Christy receives a call from his wife, Annie. She was having a meltdown. She needed more art for a show she was hosting and no one was available to bring it. He was leaving the hospital anyway and offered to first pick up the artwork for his wife and then meet to go out on their double D anniversary date. Double D stands for "Decision and Divorce". Annie says to Chris that they are too different to stay together because she had a breakdown when they lost their children and Chris