Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt is a gripping historical novel about Holland set in the seventeenth century and the birth of Delft Blue. The creative Catrin, born in de rural area around Alkmaar, gets a housekeeping job in Amsterdam, the place to be during the age of Rembrandt. When she is forced to leave the city she is able to find a job in Delft, where she witnesses the birth of Delftware and meets the famous painter Johannes Vermeer. Unfortunately her newly found happiness ends with the arrival of the plague and the big explosion in Delft of 1654 . In the end Catrin faces a tough dilemma: should she follow her heart or her head?