Recently Read: The Miniaturist

Author: Jessie Burton
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 382
Publication Date: 2014
Rating: 4/5

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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? From Goodreads

I have a huge collection of popular historical fiction novels that I have been wanting to read on my TBR shelves and cold weather always puts me in the mood for a long historical novel, so this is the one I picked off my shelf to read first. I really enjoyed this novel. I really didn't know much about it besides the information on the inside flap, and that it received a lot of positive buzz when it was released, and I was pleasantly surprised by what was inside this novel. It had a great plot, intriguing characters, mystery, and beautiful writing. 

I loved the 17th century Amsterdam setting, as this is a setting I have never read before. Burton did an amazing job at bringing the setting to life. This novel felt like a visual experience, and I am happy to hear that it has been adapted into a mini-series. The characters are very real, and all of the characters, even the small side characters, have been given so much detail and care by Brandt that they all seem absolutely essential to the novel. The back cover compares Burton's novel to the works of Sarah Waters, and I have to agree there. While The Miniaturist may not have the same level of twists as Waters' novels, this novel is full of mystery and surprise and kept me on my toes. 

This novel deals with so many subjects in such an interesting way. It comments on religion, wealth, sin in its varying degrees, the historically limited options for women, family, love, and the inner mysteries of every human. All of these ideas weaved into the plot seamlessly along with the mystery of the miniaturist and the question of fate and the future. The writing is beautiful and the plot never falters or slows. Time truly slipped away while I was reading this novel. 

I already purchased Burton's second novel, and I will be eager to read whatever she releases in the future. Her writing was beautiful and her scene building impeccable. I have a feeling that this novel has inspired a marathon of historical fiction reading!