What is the author's style in Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier?

The language in this novel is very conversational, as it is told through the voice of a sixteen-year-old maid with no formal educational or training, which is reflected through the voice of this first person narration. The sentences are constructed in a way that the average reader could understand them in the same way the character speaking them could. Because the novel is evenly split between exposition and dialogue, the reader still gleans a variety of different speaking styles through the dialogue which not only characterize the speakers, but also help to create the stratified social structures.