“Don’t worry,” Marin says at one point, “my brother knows the danger of having nothing to do.”Īt another point, Nella reflects, “Being observed by Johannes is like being watched by an owl, she thinks.
Burton reveals her plot with measured hints that keep a reader turning the pages well into the night. The Miniaturist is a masterpiece of atmosphere and tension wherein the political, pompous, and watchful city of Amsterdam emerges along with the strictures of a society dominated by the Calvinist church and powerful business elites. Is Cornelia a friend? Will Johannes ever love her? Is Otto a servant or a slave? Why does Marin make life so miserable? What is behind the strange occurrences connected with her miniature house? Nella is at times confused, at other times frustrated: “Life in this house isn’t just preposterous, it’s a game, an exercise in fakery.” Each step forward is followed by setbacks and by unexpected - somewhat threatening - gifts and warnings from the miniaturist. But instead of the items she requests, the miniaturist sends a collection of startling pieces accompanied by a note: “Every woman is the architect of her own fortune.”Īs the novel unfolds, Nella struggles to understand her husband and gain a measure of control over her destiny. When Johannes gives her a tiny house for a belated wedding present, she finds a miniaturist to make furniture and other small items to furnish it.
Whispers, unanswered questions, odd noises, morbid paintings, and her husband’s frequent absences unsettle Nella. Instead of a warm welcome, Nella receives a vaguely hostile greeting from her husband’s sharp-tongued sister, Marin, and two servants, Cornelia and Otto.Īlthough her mother had warned Nella not to expect love, nothing had prepared her for such a strange household.
The year is 1686, a time when the Dutch East India Company sailed throughout Africa, India and Asia trading in spices, minerals, precious metals, and goods such as silk, cotton, tea, and porcelain. Nella Oortman is an innocent 18-year-old when she arrives in Amsterdam to join her new husband and assume her duties as the wife of the well-to-do and highly respected merchant trader Johannes Brandt.
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