The Miniaturist: A Novel

An outstanding read. I devoured this book in two days, even falling asleep over it one night, unwilling to put it down. In reading other reviews please be aware that this is a LITERARY historical novel, not a romance or women's fiction. It also contains magic realism which seems to have thrown some readers off. The setting is 17th century Amsterdam, and the author captures perfectly the conflicting sides of the Dutch personality at the time, perfectly describing it as a pendulum between God and guilder. This is the Amsterdam of the Dutch conquerors and the merchants who build their wealth on Eastern trade. It is the Amsterdam of Calvinism, staunch, suspicious, unyielding, unforgiving. Into this city Nell merges as a new bride, eighteen year old and fresh from the country. Her new husband is a wealthy merchant, charming and well liked. For a wedding gift he gives his young bride a cabinet house (doll house) which she begins to fill with minatures. As the story unfolds unsolicited additions arrive from the miniaturist, additions that foretell events in the household before they even happen. Nell attempts to find the mysterious miniaturist while trying to understand the complex characters of her new husband, his strong-willed sister, their maid, and the Black man her husband treats as an assistant in a city in which Blacks are curiosities and inferiors. So many twists and turns in which the character of Amsterdam itself unfolds with the individual characters. Beautifully…

This is an interesting piece of historical fiction. It is 1686 and Nella (short for Petronella), at 18, finds herself on the doorstep of her new husband, 39, who she hardly knows, but who is a wealthy merchant in a bigger city who is supposed to help her life become new and wonderful. However, of the many surprises Nella is confronted with when she arrives at her new home, one of the most confounding is how her new husband does not visit her bedroom and does not treat her as a husband typically treats his new wife. Instead, his gives her a replica of their home -- a "distraction" -- for Nella to furnish. Nella seeks the services of a miniaturist to assist her and requests a few intro pieces. In return, the miniaturist sends Nella the requested pieces, along with a few unrequested pieces that seem to be exact replicas of items in Nella's new home. Does this miniaturist know the family? Has he been in the house? How did he create such perfect replicas? Thus begins a subtle mystery as Nella both tries to stop the gifts and cannot wait for the next gift from the miniaturist, each new gift providing insight, prophesy, or explanation of happenings in Nella's increasingly complicated life. We also meet her husband Johannes' sister Marin, an unmarried woman living in the house who almost seems more master of the house than Johannes or Nella, the "manservant" Otto, who has been educated and is more free with his relationship than Nella has ever seen before, their maid Cornelia…

After finishing this book, it took me a while to figure out how I felt about it. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton wasn’t what I thought/hoped it would be but it wasn’t a bad book on the whole. I figured all things considered, the current rating I ended up with was more of a compromise than any concrete reflection of my feelings. The main reason I got the book was its synopsis. It had me thinking the book would be filled with fantasy and magic that would engage my attention. It sounded like an intriguing book. But the book wasn’t any near those expectations. While there were some mysteriousness involved in Nella’s miniatures and what the meaning of it is, the reality of it, when exposed, wasn’t exactly mundane but was on the other end of the fantasy spectrum. The nature of this aspect of the plot was truly more human in nature than that of the supernatural. Given the explanation/revelation there’s a part of me that actually admires the truth. In a way it is a form of magic considering that not many people can claim to have that particular ability. However, with the buildup surrounding their origins and meaning, it was a letdown when the truth was explained. It also didn’t help when the first quarter of the book centered on the situation with Johannes’s business and the relationship with the Meermans. The purpose of explaining how things worked during the late 17th century Amsterdam, which included the complicated and hypocritical balance between the business and piety of…

I watched the first installment of the series on PBS. The ending of the episode drove me to buy the book.to find out what happened next.I finished it the next day So much hypocrisy and cruelty in 17th Century Amsterdam, so many secrets in a 17th century Dutch merchant family: an innocent young bride, brought into a marriage of convenience (as it turns out,on both sides) with a handsome mysterious older husband who is seldom at home. In spite of a fatal and ultimately tragic flaw as it was seen in that time and place, Johannes was yet grateful to the young wife who came to love, defend, and try to understand him in spite of her disappointment. Johannes was apologetic, kind, and loving in his way, despite the fact that he had married against his inclination. I fell a little bit in love with him. Then there is the austere, controlling sister-in-law whose stringent religiosity conceals a guilty secret. Two servants who conspire with the family to keep secrets, but are permitted unusual, for that time, latitude to speak their minds within the family complete the picture. This is a novel with so many unexpected twists that at times my heart was racing to get to the next revelation. At the end, though, after secrets are revealed,and tragedies almost destroy the family, one mystery remains: who is the Miniaturist?

***Kind of spoiler-ish*** This was a great read! It did bring up one question that was not answered to my satisfaction though: Who was the Miniaturist, exactly? I loved the dark, growing menace of the story. All of the characters were well-developed, with me having different impressions and feelings about each of them: Nella (the main character): Young, naive, and growing into her own (even though she sometimes appeared older and wiser than her years in dealing with the various problems presented) Johannes, Nella's new husband: A rich merchant in his late 30's. I had a love/hate relationship with this alluring. philosophical man. He was distant, but kind. Too bad that his selfishness to keep on doing what he wanted to do in the face of their very strict society almost brought about the complete ruin of the family. Marin, Johannes sister: Cold, distant, and kinda' crazy. She did have some redeeming qualities, though, when she wasn't flying off the handle. Otto: A black manservant within the household. Like Johannes, he had a quiet dignity about him. Out of all of the characters, to me ( with the exception of one big No-No) he had the most sense. Cornelia: The maidservant/cook. Just a few years older than Nella, she was likeable, even when she mouthed-off at times. Frans and Agnes Meermans: A pompous, jealous couple who were immediately unlikeable. The fact that Frans used to be Johannes' close friend made it all worse. Jack: A young English dude. Gorgeous, devious,…