The Miniaturist

by Jessie Burton

This book is set in the 1680's in Holland.  A young girl, 18 year old Nella, arrives at her new home in Amsterdam, having married a successful merchant.  She had dreams of a happy family life and children but her husband seems aloof and the marriage is never consummated.

Her husband gives her a cabinet, which is a model of their house, as a wedding present.  These types of items would normally be playthings for younger girls.  She contacts a miniaturist to obtain some objects for the cabinet and pieces start arriving, some of which she had not requested.  These items demonstrate that the creator has an intimate knowledge of the household.

Nella is not really happy in her new home, her sister-in-law nags her husband about her business dealings and is rude to Nella.  Nella is befriended by the young woman who cooks and cleans for the household.  She was an orphan who was rescued by Nella's husband.  He also has a black man servant whom he "bought" to rescue him from a life of slavery.

Nella tries to surprise her husband at his office one day and is shocked and dismayed to find out that her husband is homosexual.  There are grave consequences for this in the strict dutch society.  As time goes by she gets to like her husband even though he does not approach her.  She is distraught when she finds out that her sister in law is pregnant, and when her husband is caught and reported to the authorities.  Both the sister in law and husband die, one in childbirth and one drowned for his crime of sodomy.  We find out the sister in law was approached to marry but she refused, wanting her independence more than marriage.

The story ends with Nella heading the household with the young girl, black man and the mulatto baby (child of the black man and the sister-in-law).  How will she survive?  Will she be able to overcome all the shame?  Will she be able to assume her husband's business?  He did a lot of travel to obtain produce, not something a woman could do.

It was an interesting story but I would have liked to see the main character meet and confront the miniaturist who it seems was impacting many lives in the city.  Nella grows up rapidly during the course of the story but you wonder how she will survive in this city with its many prejudices given her husband and sister-in-law's shame.  I think a theme of the book is women doing unconventional things in the face of a very staid society.