Vermeer's Milkmaid

Apr 24, 2025 1:06 AM

Author:Manuel Rivas

Vermeer's Milkmaid

The theme of non-communication in human relationships in a world saturated with information is the connecting thread in this collection of stories. The mystery of light in Vermeer's famous painting inspires a writer; a travelling lingerie salesman is helped by a rock musician as he waits for his runaway son; an emigrant describes his experiences in Havana to his nephew; a thief, killed while robbing a bank, recounts his love story.

Non-communication in a world saturated with information is the connecting theme in this lively collection of stories by the author of The Carpenter's Pencil. The everyday lives of Rivas's unforgettable characters may be desperate and harsh, filled with pain and solitude, but humour and tenderness always redeem them. Vermeer's Milkmaid includes the three stories that comprise Butterfly's Tongue, upon which Jos- Luis Cuerda's acclaimed film of the same title is based.

Reviews

A very enjoyable display of deadly wit given with a relaxed literary confidence. Here is a gossipy, smart, critical, intellectual, high spirited and literate voice

—— Hal Jensen , Times Literary Supplement

Clever and enjoyable... This is an accomplished first book, and even if Stevenson never writes another word, she is already more than promising

—— Phil Baker , Sunday Times

What continuously sustains these stories is an unfashionable concept of serious fiction as etnertainment, an art in which the process is as enjoyable as the effects it is designed to produce... Relish the neat professionalism of a smart new act

—— Jonathan Keates , Independent

Stevenson's careful plotting and attention to detail prove she is a new voice worth listening to

—— The Times

The clarity, wit and descriptive intensity of (Kennedy's) style are uplifting and the collection ends on a note of fragile hope... A writer in her thirties, who is becoming one of Britain's best

—— The Times

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