The Girl in Hyacinth blue is a classic example of Susan Vreeland's favorite type of story telling--where an object inspires and determines a course of story. One writing assignment we had in high school was to write a story based on an object that we randomly chose out of a box. In the case of this novel, the Girl in Hyacinth blue is the object and in some regards, the protagonist. I love how the story unwinds itself back to its origins, to see just how it is that the painting arrived at its final owner. The theme of an objects life melds perfectly with the mission of Book Crossing.

On a side note, I found it fascinating that Ms Vreeland is still teaching creative writing. When I took her class back in 1990-1, her career as a writer had only just started. She had gotten "What Loves Sees" published and was working to get a second book published. It wasn't until joining Book Crossing that I learned that she had done well for herself as a writer. I'm very pleased that she has because she was one of the best teachers I ever had.