The Miniaturist by Jessie BurtonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I hate that Goodreads has a 5-point scale instead of 10, and this book is a prime example of why. Or maybe we need scales like they have in figure skating: one for technical merit and another for artistic impression. I loved the way the book transported me to 17th century Amsterdam, with its combination of new wealth from trading prowess and deeply conservative social values. The writing itself was beautiful and the characters had a lovely rounded complexity to them.
But it had a bit of a gothic novel feel to it and I’m just not a gothic gal. So let’s talk a bit about the plot. Small-town 18-year-old Petronella (Nella) Oortman gets married off to a wealthy trader twice her age, Johannes Brandt, and heads to the big city. But to her surprise, not only is her new husband not there to welcome her, his distinctly un-welcoming sister, Marin, makes it clear she’s the boss of the household and always will be. Even when Johannes does finally come home and give Nella a gift of a dolls-house-style replica of their home to furnish, he clearly has no interest in her. I don’t think I’ll spoil any surprises for a modern reader by telling you that he turns out to be homosexual, and she’s his cover.
It turns out there are many other secrets at play, and complex relationships among the characters. For instance, I loved watching the layers of the grumpy sister, Marin, get revealed and become chipped away as her circumstances changed.
But (sort-of-spoiler) we never get a satisfactory answer to the key question of who was the miniaturist and how did she have the magical powers she seemed to have? There were several other key plot points that, I felt, lacked credibility, such as a conveniently unlocked door on which much of the plot hinged.
In the end, I’m giving it a 4**** for “artistic impression” because of the beauty of the writing, but I’d only give it a 3 on technical merit.
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