Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Miniaturist: A Novel (original 2014; edition 2014)by Jessie Burton
Work InformationThe Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (2014)
Top Five Books of 2014 (176) Historical Fiction (204) » 18 more BBC Radio 4 Bookclub (52) Books Read in 2015 (610) Books Read in 2020 (718) Female Author (612) Books Read in 2018 (2,016) Books Read in 2014 (1,256) Secrets Books (19) First Novels (106) SHOULD Read Books! (79) Europe (159) 2010s (148) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. 3.5 stars It’s the 17th century. Nella is newly married and travels to Amsterdam to live with her new husband (whom she’s barely met), a somewhat well-to-do merchant. She is young and he is much older. She is “greeted” by Marin, who seems pretty rude, and turns out to be her new sister-in-law. There are two servants in the house – one is a black man! – and her husband is away. No one is particularly welcoming. When her husband buys a cabinet that is a small version of the very house they are living in as a wedding gift, there is a miniaturist who will make tiny things to add to the house, but the miniaturist starts sending things Nella has not ordered. Nella’s husband is often away on business, and she has a hard time fitting in. And weird things happen in this house. This was good. It took a short bit to get going for me, and I suppose it is slow-moving in its entirety. I did get more interested and the story moved on, though. There are definitely some (big) surprises. I do think the cover is beautiful. (Though that wasn’t why I chose to read it – it was a gift.) And I see there is a sequel. I will read it.
In spite of some lovely passages and fine research, Jessie Burton's tale of a young woman in 17th-century Amsterdam lacks plausibility Has the adaptationAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Engaging the services of a miniaturist to furnish a cabinet-sized replica of her new home, 18-year-old Nella Oortman, the wife of an illustrious merchant trader, soon discovers that the artist's tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways. No library descriptions found.
|
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
I never quite believed in the miniaturist nor her powers of seeing into the future. I never quite believed Nella's acceptance of her husband once his sexual orientation is revealed to her in a quite shocking way. I never quite believed in her own rapid blossoming as a character, from sheltered country girl to assured young decision-maker.
But I still enjoyed this story, and its assured sense of time and place. I turned the pages willingly enough, but it's not a book that will stay long in my memory. ( )