how does the write structure the text to interest you as a reader?

The novel is comprised of four sections, each deciphered by their dates, 1664, 1665, 1666, and 1766. Within each of the numbered sections, the long text of the year is divided into much smaller sections, averaging about three pages in length, separated by white space. As the structures suggests, the story is told chronologically from the time Griet leaves her parents' home to move in with the Vermeers until she leaves the Vermeers to start a life of her own.

The first three sections of the novel are set during the three years that Griet works for the Vermeers. The year 1664 could be described as the year Griet leaves home,1665 as the year before the painting, and 1666 as the year after the painting. Clearly, the central image to the novel as a whole is the painting of Griets' portrait, and everything, even the timeline of the structure, reflects that importance. The only section to be told out of a one-year increment is the final section, which is told in the year 1676, ten years after Griet flees the Vermeer household. It is in this section that the author, still utilizing Griet's voice as the narrator, draws closure to the lives of the all the characters, ten years after the main thrust of the novel.