Girl with a Pearl Earring author reads from latest novel in Primrose Hill

The acclaimed author of Girl with a Pearl Earring gave a talk at St Mary’s Church on Wednesday as part of the Primrose Hill Lectures season, now in its tenth year.

Historical fiction writer, Tracy Chevalier, 50, who lives and works in Dartmouth Park, spoke to around 120 guests about her latest novel The Last Runaway, which centres on 19th century Quakers from Ohio who were active in the anti-slavery movement.

Reverend Mark Wakefield said: “It was a really cool night. People loved hearing her read from the book and people were really interested in the art of writing.”

He said he admired the “most extraordinary amount of research” that goes into the author’s work.

Ms Chevalier’s bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring has sold more than 4million copies worldwide and was made into a blockbuster film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth in 2003.

Ms Chevalier, originally from Washington DC, said: “You have to find a way to honour the facts and yet also satisfy the storytelling. “Sometimes that means not bending the truth, but moulding it into a kind of sculpture people can look at.”