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    The Miniaturist: A Novel
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    The Miniaturist: A Novel
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    The Miniaturist: A Novel
    Ebook445 pages7 hours

    The Miniaturist: A Novel

    By Jessie Burton

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Now a television miniseries, as seen on Masterpiece on PBS

    Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam—a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion—a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, Sarah Waters, and Sarah Dunant.

    ”There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .“

    On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office—leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

    But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

    Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand—and fear—the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

    Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

    Editor's Note

    Historical heist…

    An absorbing historical heist. Set in the Dutch Golden Age of the 1680s, the city of Amsterdam stars as a main character in this uncanny tale of a young newlywed from the countryside who marries a wealthy merchant with a shocking secret.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 26, 2014
    ISBN9780062306838
    Author

    Jessie Burton

    Jessie Burton was born in London in 1982. She studied at Oxford University and the Central School of Speech and Drama. The Miniaturist is her first novel.

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    Reviews for The Miniaturist

    3.5/5

    1,195 ratings110 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a terrific book that brings history alive. It is well-written and engaging, making it difficult to put down. However, some readers found the book to be fragmented and confusing at times. There were also threads left unexplained, which some found to be predictable and depressing. Overall, the positive reviews outweigh the negative ones, making it a recommended read.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is a novel set in 1680's. I didn't find the plot very interesting or the characters likable. I found reading the book irritating since the author was trying to make it sound as if it was based on the time period. The only interesting part was the illusive miniaturist which still left me fuzzy about who they were in the end due to the way they describe things. Worth the read to know what everyone is reading but I got this from the library but would not buy it personally.
    • 4/5
      You know you are reading good book when you can't put it down. You know you have read a good book when you finish it and you miss the characters and want to know what happened to them, wish you were still reading the book, that there was a sequel on the way....

      The Miniaturist is a multi dimensional novel that is part historical fiction, part mystery, part thriller. It is well researched, quickly paced, beautifully written. The characters all develop and grow as we get to know them, and we get to know them slowly, painfully slowly! The author teases the reader, dropping hints and clues as we learn more about each character and their story.

      The historical elements are fascinating and Burton has created a website and a Pinterest Board (see Will Brynes' review for links, and his amazing review) which offer photos of buildings, people and items mentioned in the novel. Google images also has more photos of the dollhouse/cabinet upon which the one in the novel is based - try "Petronella Oortman Cabinet House".

      The story mixes romance, friendship, a bit of magic, history, tragedy, and most importantly, the development and maturation of a young girl into a strong, confident woman.
    • 4/5
      I have to admit that this book didn't grab me from the beginning. I almost bailed on it, but at the end of Part I the plot thickened and I decided to keep listening to the audiobook. I'm very glad that I didn't chuck it because it really turned around and I found myself trying to get as much listening in as I could. The title is a bit misleading because although the miniaturist plays an important role, she isn't the main character. I sometimes found myself wishing that Nella could do something, anything, to turn things around, but I realized toward the end that during the set time period, things would remain on the path. It is a beautiful story of self discovery and determination for Nella and just a bit heartbreaking.
    • 4/5
      I started to get bored about 100 pages in and then everything changed. It was gripping, well written, but sad.
    • 5/5
      An amazing story of a woman in the 16th century in Amsterdam. She is married to a man who sells sugar and other exotic wares he gets by exploring. It is soon apparent that her husband is different, but there is no way she can realize how her life will be turned upside down by dark secrets in her new home.
    • 5/5
      I grabbed this book in reluctant desperation from the library, expecting it to be a slog and not up my street at all. Well, I never - I bloody loved it, and my Saturday housework plans have gone totally up the left as I've been totally absorbed in the last 200 pages I had left to finish.Set in Amsterdam in the 1600s, a young girl arrives at her new husband's house full of hopeful expectations for her marriage, only to be bitterly disappointed by the icy reception that awaits her from her new family and household staff. Receiving an inappropriately childish wedding gift from her husband of an ornate doll's house which is an exact replica of her new home, as the house is furnished art begins to imitate life, and the secrets of the house start to become unlocked.This was a great read. The characters were complex and mysterious, I loved the setting of old trading Amsterdam, and the plot had me guessing from the first page to the last.This seems to be a Marmite read which surprises me. I felt it had great pace and consistently good writing, and I enjoyed the sub-plots which knitted together well to a great conclusion.5 stars - a great read, and I will be keeping an eye out for The Muse from Burton now with some interest.
    • 4/5
      This is an historical novel set in the 17th century Amsterdam of shipping magnates and narrow Protestantism. While it's not great literature, it is skillfully written. I was absorbed in the read and finished it off in one day.When Nella Oortman enters the Brandt household as the young bride of its head, Johannes, she enters into a bewildering world of strained relationships and close-kept family secrets. To keep her entertained and occupied, Johannes gives her a cabinet house, the exact replica of the one in which she is currently living. She hires the only miniaturist listed in the Amsterdam business directory to supply some items for the house. When the first delivery arrives, the package contains not only the items ordered but figures of household's inhabitants. Nella tries to meet the miniaturist, but no one answers her knocks at the door.Unsolicited packages of miniatures continue to arrive and uncannily presage events within the household. Menace and mystery hang over the novel and Nella's life. I found the characters intriguing and well drawn, and the Dutch setting was interesting. All in all, an enjoyable escape.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. Probably wouldn't have picked it up personally so glad to have had it 'given' to me to read.Without going into too much, it was well written and did indeed keep my interest. I wondered about the accuracy of the depiction of the time. I like that it touched on race, sexuality, greed, wealth, class etc. But, I just didn't get the whole miniaturist thing. What was that about? Why was she there? What is the relevance? I felt like it was a side line to the actual story. Initially I thought it was going somewhere and then it didn't...All in all, worth reading.
    • 3/5
      Not sure if I liked this or not, despite it being quite an absorbing read. The story seemed to go downhill after Nella moved in to her husband's home , though the additions to the dollshouse were quite mystifying, even though it was not fully revealed at the end.
    • 4/5
      A poignant story full of twists and turns set in 17th Century Amsterdam. Very promising debut from Jessie Burton.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book quite a lot and had difficulty putting it down from about half way on. Not just a story about a doll house, The Miniaturist dives into history, culture, and a bit of suspense and intrigue. Surprised it hasn't been turned into a film yet.
    • 3/5
      Excellent job at evoking Amsterdam of that period but characters were lifeless. I had many questions about the miniaturist.
    • 3/5
      I was looking forward to reading this book with a great deal of anticipation. I was ready to be transported to seventeenth-century Amsterdam and immersed in the lives of a family filled with secrets. I was, but when all is said and done, I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief enough to thoroughly enjoy the book.As should be, the main character, Nella, held most of my attention, and her clumsy attempts to fit in this very strange household and to entice her husband into her bed elicited my sympathy. Each character-- from Nella to Marin the hateful sister-in-law to the distant husband Johannes to the servants, Otto and Cornelia-- have secrets and unexpected depths that add a great deal to the story, although I found none of them particularly likeable.However, two things kept throwing me out of the story: historical accuracy and the character of the miniaturist. Let me stress one thing before I go any further. I am not a stickler for historical accuracy in fiction. If the story has its grip on me, I can ignore a few things here and there because I know I'm reading fiction. In The Miniaturist, the author has obviously done a lot of research on physical setting and objects. I can see the streets, I can picture Nella's house, and I can see the cabinet filled with tiny works of art. Unfortunately, the time frame of the story always seems a little "off"-- and not just because the characters slip into a twenty-first century way of speaking and writing from time to time.In the book, Amsterdam is in the clutches of a strict and repressive church. Church leaders ban the baking of gingerbread in the form of humans because it smacks of Catholic idolatry. At the same time, women supposedly have a great deal of freedom in the city; Nella walks across town several times without a chaperone. Religious repression and female emancipation of any sort never go hand in hand. There were just too many times when I felt off balance-- as though the early and late seventeenth century time periods were fighting it out for supremacy. I felt so off-kilter in fact, that I did a bit of checking to refresh my memory. For example, those gingerbread men were banned in 1607, not 1686. However, there is room for literary license because not everyone will have read enough about the time period to find these things jarring enough to turn to Google.At the end of the day, the character of the miniaturist was the one thing that didn't work for me at all. Very little background is given, and the character vanishes midway through the book. Is the person magical? Crazy? Some sort of savior? I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed the book-- and the author's lyrical and descriptive writing style-- much more without this particular character.
    • 4/5
      A slow-burner of a novel that gradually picks up pace and drama. Amsterdam in the 1680s is a vivid, well-crafted backdrop and the main female characters, Nella, her sister-in-law , Marin and the servant, Cornelia are persuasive and moving although I didn't find the men quite as believable. For me, the cabinet-sized, dolls' house replica of their own home which Nella is given as a wedding gift by Johannes, her husband, and the mysterious miniaturist who furnishes it was an unnecessary embellishment to a naturalistic historical novel. However, the rest of the plot and characterisation was strong enough to overcome this unnecessary hint of mysticism.
    • 5/5
      It's exquisite like fine china. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is also a well patterned garden maze. A reader might find themselves lost in streets because there are many lives to live here. More than one life story lives in each character. It is uncomfortable to read about one household's days of chaos.A large cabinet house bought by Johannes, the husband, for his bride, Petronella, will become more than an upright toy. For a while, it is a child bride's safe haven. The household is full of puzzles and whispers. So are the streets of Amsterdam. In this novel, words and deeds are like "water." What is spoken or done inside flows outside and is judged.Very interesting is the seemingly magical appearance and disappearance of the miniaturist. A girl or woman who in some way gains the hearts of the women in the city. She is like an invisible fortune teller. She can foretell the death of a much loved family pet. Was the miniaturist real or just my imagination? Her comings and goings left me perplexed. One thing real for sure is the stiff religious garments worn by the neighbors and Pastor Pellicorne. Without rose colored glasses one can see that it comes down to who owns the worse bag of sins It's The Scarlet Letter of our time.I am left wanting to know more about Amsterdam: It's history. It's people. Perhaps, this is the skill of a good author. She or he leaves us wondering where does truth begin and where does it end. Is there a need to know the truth of a place? Sometimes.The novel begins in the 1600's. The characters seem real. Their emotional pain overpowering. With all of the anxiety there is time to breathe for a moment. This is when there is a quiet wish made that doll houses were real because toys never judge. Toys only give pleasure.
    • 4/5
      Excellent story! I was fascinated by the time and place, and all the characters. The author has a knack for keeping the reader guessing. I agree with another reviewer who said the end was a bit disappointing - although it was a decent ending, I certainly want to know what happens to the characters next. Will they be able to survive and maintain the home, etc.? Spoilers Coming:I actually felt one of the weakest parts was the miniaturist herself. I do not feel we got any answers about her. What is her relationship to the characters. Is she a seer or just preternaturally observant? I'm not sure how she could have known some of the things she knows without psychic abilities... And what becomes of her? Why is the small house that she leaves at the grave the small house with five figures, "where she had always intended it to lie"? I think there are more questions than answers in this part of the story.End of spoilersOtherwise, I found this to be a fine story that kept me wondering and thinking.
    • 4/5
      Amsterdam 1686, eighteen year old Nella Oortman arrives at a grand house to start a married life as a wife to wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. The household also includes Johannes sister Marin and servants Cornelia and Otto. As a wedding gift Johannes gives Nella a cabinet replica of their house for Nella to furnish.I saw that this book as been adapted for tv to be shown in December so I decided to read it. The story is very much in the same vain as Tracy Chevalier and would appeal to readers who enjoy her books.I thought this book was quite enjoyable. I enjoyed the descriptions of Amsterdam and did get a good sense of place. I also liked the characters in this tale and at times, especially early on in the book was reminded of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Nella especially I enjoyed following around and watching how she stsrted as a quiet younng girl who through everything had to become a strong young woman.What lost me a bit was the miniaturist herself. She was a very elusive character in the story but as the title of the book suggests to me the main part of the story. I don't really know her part in the story, and as a reader I'm left feeling with a lot of questions which are not answered. The story for me was slightly let down because of this. This book sounded very promising and although I enjoyed it I am left feeling I needed to know more. The story for me became a family saga, secrets and predictable surprises. Overall an ok read.
    • 5/5
      What an exciting story. On the one hand, it's all about the prediction of the miniaturist, who keeps Nella in suspense with her life-like figures, but on the other hand, the inhabitants of the real house have many secrets that only become apparent over time. Nella a young girl who was married to a rich merchant comes from the country to the big city Amsterdam. Much is alien to her here and she struggles to find her way around the house, as it is still led by her sister-in-law. From her husband she gets a dollhouse, which resembles the house where she lives now. Over time, figures, animals and objects come along. Nella soon realizes that these things can predict the future by understanding the signs. Amsterdam is an economic metropolis and Nella's husband plays an important role. But he underestimates his power, because his secret is that he is gay, which at the time was considered a serious crime. Her sister-in-law also has a big secret. While Nella is initially considered the inexperienced 'land mouse', she develops untold powers to the end and finds her place in society.
    • 4/5
      Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist tells the story of Petronella, or Nella in short, a girl from the Dutch Assendelft that gets married to the rich merchant Johannes Brandt. She moves to his big house in Amsterdam and lives there with Johannes' sister Marin and Otto and Cornelia, two servants in the house. The novel is set in the 17th century and covers a relatively short time span from October 1686 until January 1687. As Johannes is rarely home Nella does not see much of her husband. They do not even consume their marriage, which is very hard on Nella who wonders what might be wrong with her. One day, Johannes brings home a large cabinet which is an exact copy of the house and is his wedding present to Nella. Nella does not really know what to do with the gift, so she starts buying miniature items to put into the cabinet. When little figurines of the inhabitants of the house arrive without her having ordered them she wonders about the identity of the miniaturist who sends them.What I find most striking about the novel are the relationships between the characters. The relationship between Nella and Johannes is very one-sided at the beginning with Nella wanting to live the life of happily married wife with all its facets and Johannes being away all the time and not even talking to her. When he takes her out to the public one night, Nella finally thinks their marriage is going to start, but again her hopes are crushed. In the meantime the relationship between Nella and the two servants gets ever warmer, but the relationship to Marin, Johannes' sister, remains mysterious. Marin is a very dominant character who does not let anyone come to close to her. An important part that complicates the relation between Johannes and Marin as well as the relation between Marin and Nella is the Meermans family. The reader learns that Frans Meermans and Marin have been a couple when Marin was still young, but the relationship has ended abruptly. Agnes Meermans, who inherited a sugar plantation in Suriname, has her husband Frans charge Johannes with selling the sugar. Generally, there are many secrets in the novel which are only slowly revealed to the reader. Suffice it to say at this point that you really want to find out what lies behind all those secrets and find out about Marin and Johannes Brandt's backgrounds.In the reading process I found myself having more and more questions about what was really happening. Why does Johannes not live a normal life with his wife? Does he love her? What role does Marin play as the lady of the house? Why did her relationship to Frans Meermans end? Who is the miniaturist? How does the miniaturist know what to send Nella? Are the things that are sent some kind of prophecy of the future? It is these questions and many more that I wanted to find answers to and this was the driving force behind my reading. The larger issues that are explored in the novel, that is the role of women in 17th century Amsterdam, for instance, do also provide for an interesting angle on the story. While the story that is told is not completely my cup of tea, I do think that this novel has its merits and leaves you with a sense of a worthwhile reading experience. 3.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      I liked, but did not love The Miniaturist. The characters seemed less fully formed in this novel than in Burton's second, The Muse. There would have been less tension in the novel without the miniaturist, but she's also a peripheral character. I kept reading because I wanted to find out how/whether Marin and Petronella resolved their relationship, and who the miniaturist was.Set in 17th century Amsterdam, this novel follows 18-year-old Petronella as she seeks to make sense of the relationships in her husband Johannes' household, as well as learning the ways of the city. When I asked myself, "what was the point of all that?" at the end of the book, the answer I came up with is that the novel was about the ways people seek to escape society's strictures, and how they can't.
    • 4/5
      Inspired by a miniature of an Amsterdam house in the Rijksmuseum, this is a story of a young village girl thrust into the home of a wealthy businessman in the 1680s - as his wife.How she feels is skillfully conveyed by the story telling, with the reader sensing much of the unease that she must have felt. No answer to questions, odd food, no concessions to her former life, and in effect a missing husband. As a story, it's a great escape, with answers to questions slowly revealed.If one wants to think more about the sub-text, the author appears to be on a mission to deliver some messages. As others have pointed out, this is where there are questions. How does one with a modern world-view (or a world-view 400 years on) relate to attitudes and customs in the 1600s? I have one minor quibble as well. The city was under the influence of the Reformation, much more the continental reformation (Calvinism) than what was happening across the channel. I have to check, but I would have expected that in Amsterdam there would have been more community church going, and more evidence of a renewed personal interaction with the fruits of the Reformation than this book suggests. We read in the book of a single priest (a roman catholic office), of patchy church attendance, and an overall suggestion that everyone was a hypocrite - following Mammon rather than God. Not sure that is an accurate or fair representation of life in Amsterdam.
    • 3/5
      Postmodern writing despite the 17th century Amsterdam setting, a bit of mystery and magic involved in the dollhouse, but it never comes to fruition as part of the plot.
    • 5/5
      One of the most original books I've ever read. Absolutely fascinating.
    • 4/5
      An odd read which remained compelling despite the first half or so being very slow moving. Set in Amsterdam towards the end of the 17th century, it held some reminder of Girl with a Pearl Earring for me but a totally different type of story. I always enjoy historical fiction and this does deliver a strong sense of time and place with vivid characters like Nella, Cornelia and Marin. I came away with a strange sense of it being unfinished or there being unanswered questions.
    • 3/5
      Not as good as the Coffee Trader but an interesting read none the less.
    • 3/5
      A young Dutch bride is given a miniature replica of her new home as a wedding gift. She can't be sure if the person she hired to decorate it is trying to spy on her or tell her something about her new family
    • 3/5
      One of the strangest books over radon a long time. The premise was very promising but I feel so much was left unwritten
    • 4/5
      An intent perspective of life in Amsterdam in this era. A magical tale with equal parts of realism and mysticism. Full of drama and lyrical in prose, Most enjoyable,
    • 4/5
      This is a well told story about expectation, disappointment, secrets and betrayal. At times it seemed quite a modern story to me, at odds slightly with its 17th century setting. Sometimes the language didn't feel right, but that didn't stop it being a gripping read. I finished it in a day.The main character is a young woman, Nella, who is married off by her mother to a rich merchant in order to secure her future. The marriage of convenience doesn't meet Nella's expectations, but teaches her a whole range of other things.There are echoes of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell in the strangeness that envelopes Nella's new life. She is an intelligent and curious girl who doesn't take being treated as a child lying down. She has spirit and a mind of her own and is determined to winkle out the truth behind her new husband's life.In an attempt to distract her from the inadequacies of her new life, her husband buys her a cabinet modelled on the rooms of his house. Her sister in law provides her with promissory notes and the 17th century Amsterdam equivalent of the Yellow Pages, and Nella begins to furnish the house with the assistance of a mysterious miniaturist who knows more about Nella's new life than Nella herself does.I enjoyed the references to spices and other scents, and the way they are used to add another dimension to the descriptions of Nella's environment and the people within it. I loved the air of mystery and Nella's tenacity. She is a likeable protagonist. The tension as the story unfurls is exquisite. My heart was in my mouth at times, almost unbearably so.The story is also about choice, in particular choices made by those who aren't recognised or accepted by society as having rights. This Amsterdam household is made up of people who must hide their truths from wider society and who work together to create a kind of freedom that is also a prison.
    • 3/5
      I won this book from GoodReads first-reads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.I wanted to like this book and I think I did however, it did not give me a sense of closure. An 18 year old Nella marries Johannes Brandt through an arrangement made by her mother. Moving to Johannes house she experiences alienation and loneliness because of an inattentive husband and his over domineering sister. When Johannes presents Nella a gift of a miniature replica of their home, she reaches out to an obscure miniaturist to create furnishings for the 'house'. This is where I feel the author became sidetracked in her goal. The events that occur throughout the story as a result of Nella's relationship with the miniaturist appear to make the book more of a supernatural genre, however, the ending of the book does not back that up and no real explanation is given for these events which are the backbone of the plot.In addition to a contradictory plot, characterizations are not very deep and are rather predictable such as the sister-in-law who is portrayed as a put-upon and much maligned individual. Johannes is the most complicated character in the story and the book was most enjoyable when he was in the scene. The author's style of writing was crisp and clear although I think she needed to have more direction and focus on which genre she wanted to go with.