The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

I think The Miniaturist was another book I found from a Good Reads recommendation.  Either that, or it came from an author recommend.  At any rate, my thanks to whoever in the universe it was that brought it to my attention.  It was a very interesting read. Now, before I go into my thoughts on the book itself, I do need to tell the little story on how the book almost didn’t get finished.  The Miniaturist was one that I listened to on audio.  I became very frustrated with the book as it wasn’t making any sense whatsoever!  Just as I was about to give up on it (though I was being held back from that because there were areas that were very interesting, I just could see how they tied into anything)  It turns out that my Ipod was set to shuffle.  So, it was shuffling the chapters.  Took it off of shuffle, started the book over.  Problem solved.  And got a good laugh at my own expense over it as well. So, on to the story itself, once it all got put in good order and was then able to make sense! The Miniaturist is about a young woman, Petranella, who is married to a wealthy Dutch merchant, Johannes Brandt.  When she travels to his home, he gives her a gift of a miniature house to the one that is to be her new home.  She is at first insulted by the gift, thinking that it is a gift for a child.  This is even more reinforced with the treatment she receives from his sister, Marin, the matriarch of the home.  Johannes, aloof, distant, keeping either to himself or away on business. Nella employs the services of a miniaturist to furnish her cabinet, and the pieces begin to arrive quickly.  The odd thing is that she is getting pieces she didn’t order and some of the pieces seem to be telling her of events that there should be no way for the miniaturist to have knowledge of. Slowly, as the story moves forward, the lives of the members of the household begin to unweave before Nella, their secrets, their weaknesses, their demons.  And with each turn, the miniaturist always seems to be one step ahead and Nella begins to think of her as a “prophetess”. Its a wonderful historically rich and complex story that draws you into a time and place where simply being an unmarried woman could mark you for trial, a black servant an object of arrogant eccentricity, and a housemaid listens to keyholes. The problem I found with the novel, though, was when the author seemed to cut her miniaturist loose and push her to the dusty sidelines with her creations.  What had become an intriguing original aspect of the story was discarded and the continuation of the story as merely a well written mystery.  This does not fall under the canopy of killing off your characters, your darlings.  For the miniaturist was never killed off.  She was simply swept into the corner. For all its charm and beautiful prose, the book does lose some in its loose closures in the book and the sweeping under the rug of what the main premise/dynamic of the book was.  Though, given that this seems to be Jessie’s first book, and the promise her writing style holds, I would gladly keep my eyes open for her next offering.  The Miniaturist is a good book, but just wasn’t sure what it wanted to be and lost its footing as a result.  But, it is also good enough to stand on its own even in light of its flaws.