READERS GUIDE
CLUES

In The Thrift Shop Diary, Ellie's search for answers to her mother's mysterious phone call leads to a set of veiled clues steeped in art, literature, music, fashion,and mysticism. 

ART

A Maid Asleep
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Dimensions: 2′ 10″ x 2′ 6″
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Date: 1656-57

Ellie finds a postcard of this painting in the attic box and it ultimately provides the key  to her mother's secret. 

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Mona Lisa      
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Dimensions: 2′ 6″ x 1′ 9″
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: 1503

While this painting is technically not a clue, the mysterious Mona Lisa --  who surfaces several times in the novel --       serves as a metaphor to the mystery of Sophie McBride. At the end of the diary, Ellie and her family go to Paris and see the painting at the Louvre.

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LITERATURE

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust published in 1908

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MUSIC

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amedeo Mozart written in 1791

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