The Miniaturist ~ Jessie Burton

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is set in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to start her new life as the wife of wealthy trader, Johannes Brandt. The house is splendid but not welcoming and Nella finds herself trying to unravel the secrets of those who reside in the house; her husband, his sister and their two servants. Johannes gifts Nella with a cabinet-sized replica of their home to decorate as she pleased. She gets in contact with a mysterious miniaturist who creates wonderfully accurate models but the tiny creations seem to mirror real-life happenings.

I’ve seen this book come up a few times on various different sites and the premise has always intrigued me. The book came up again whilst we were researching for one of our posts and then I saw it on the shelf in the library and decided it was probably a sign.

I will be honest, I didn’t know entirely what to expect. I had read the book description and yet it was still a shock to me that the cabinet house and the miniatures were not as big of a plot point as I thought. They played an interesting part in the story, but the story wasn’t really about them, it was about relationships and money. 

Nella had quite a big development arc, however, it was almost glacial to start with as she was overwhelmed by the change and stubborn. She grated on my nerves a little bit especially all her actions with Marin, her sister-in-law. Both those characters thought they were fighting for the same thing and yet were actually fighting for separate things. The hierarchy in the house was constantly in contention and Johannes was a distant character that, whilst important to the plot, was important due to his absence. The characters and their relationships with each other were complex but interesting.

I have been a little negative about this book and its plot and I think that if it was written differently, I wouldn’t have liked it anywhere near as much. Jessie Burton has a way of writing the events that had me eagerly turning the page trying to get answers to all the questions. I ended up giving the book four stars. However much I liked it, I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel.

C🌙