A Book Review: “The Miniaturist” by Jessie Burton (Spoiler Free)

I was in a book hunt for some nice looking thick books, then I saw the gorgous cover and title of “The Miniaturist”. It was so out of the past and was whispering my name through its beautiful pages. The title triggered me and I ended up buying the book, curious and excited.

The story takes place in late 1600’s Amsterdam. The protagonist, Petronella Oortman, is a young woman, who ends up married to a 40 year old  rich merchant called Johannes Brandt. She isn’t greeted friendly there, and everbody acts pretty strange towards her. Especially Johannes’ sister, Marin. They do not get along from the very first day.

Johannes also acts strange, he doesn’t even sleep next to her and always works. To Nella, he seems like he has some secrets, and he really did, which Nella later discovered.

Because he does not spend a lot of time with his new lovely wife, he gets her a present. An exact miniature replica of the house they are living in. This present may seem like it is not valuable like jewelry, but it actually is made of precious stones and really is a special gift. Nella decides to put in some miniatures in it so it wouldn’t look so empty, to show her gratitude to her husband and orders some from a man/woman called “The Miniaturist”. No name no nothing. Nella only knows the adress. Although she visited the place a few times, she never gets to see the miniaturist. The odd thing about this person, he/she seems to know every detail about everyones life, even the colours of their dogs or the book that is on the bedside table (and you know, even more). I was eager to find out more about this miniaturist.

However at the same time, plot twists and new events were keeping on slapping me on the face each chapter.

After Johannes’ secret is revealed everything starts falling into pieces. Marin’s little affair with Johannes’ former friend and now client will set the falling pieces on fire. And even after the catastrophe, there will be more to come.

In the middle of everything stands Nella with all her grace and curiousity. That was probably my favourite thing about this book. There are a lot of different stories within the story but Nella is in every single one of them, although not each one of them is about her. The character development is to be seen perfectly and is really impressive, seeing someone growing up so much.

Every chapter is full of surprises. Every character is so unique. The story is breathtaking.

The only thing I could complain about would be the amount of fancy old english words, as a foreign reader. This made my reading experience a little bit boring, at least during the first 4-5 chapters. But it is not something to really complain about.

I would recommend this book to everyone, especially to people who enjoy a nice immersive historical fiction. People who are trying to improve their English skills can also consider reading this book, it would definitely improve your vocabulary.

Ratings

Cover: 7/10

Language: 7/10

Content: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Overall: 33/40

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