Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam—a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion—a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, Sarah Waters, and Sarah Dunant.
”There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .“
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office—leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .
Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand—and fear—the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.
Jessie Burton was born in London in 1982. She studied at Oxford University and the Central School of Speech and Drama. The Miniaturist is her first novel.
We’ve been fans of Anthony Marra since his extraordinary debut, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, and he joins us on the show to talk about his epic and often witty new novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, a story of love and war, of exile and finding home in unexpected places. Ryka Aoki dazzles with Light from […]
Lots of great fiction this month on the show, starting with The House of Fortune, Jessie Burton’s fabulous follow-up to her bestseller, The Miniaturist. NAACP Image Award winning author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (The Revisioners) transports us to 1950s San Francisco in On the Rooftop. We have a pair of unforgettable debuts with The Old Place, […]
“I think it is a conversation I’m having with my younger self, who loved the idea of time travel, who loved the idea that these people perhaps not so different from us, who quite quickly could imagine herself out of her body and into another world against all the laws of physics. And I know […]
August signifies the end of summer, but for the true bibliophiles, we know that this is when the excitement is just starting to ramp up for the most anticipated titles to come this Fall! This month, we’re diving headfirst into brand new books by favorite authors like Ali Hazelwood, Beth Macy, R. F. Kuang as […]
July means beach reads! And this month, some of your favorites, including Danielle Steel, Jane Green, and Lauren Weisberger, are back with beach bag–worthy fare. Dave Eggers explores the wilds of Alaska, and the angst that leads a recent divorcee to plot a great escape. Master of thrillers Liane Moriarty returns with a puzzle of a […]
