Herald on Sunday - 17 August 2014
By Jessie Burton (Picador) - $37.99
Set against the gloomy, atmospheric backdrop of
seventeenth century Amsterdam, this historical novel is a coming-of-age story
with a difference. Teenaged Nella Oortman has moved to the city from the
provinces to be with the wealthy merchant husband she barely knows. She finds
Amsterdam a restrictive place, driven by greed, snobbery and harsh rules.
Arriving at her new home to be frostily greeted by her sister-in-law, Nella is
plunged into a strange and secretive household. Nothing is what it seems, most
especially her new husband who refuses to consummate their marriage and instead
gives her an extravagant gift, a dolls house version of the elegant home she is
living in.
The miniaturist that Nella commissions to help
furnish the dolls house is an enigma. She knows things she oughtn’t be privy
to, seeming even to predict the future. As the family’s secrets threaten to
destroy them and the miniaturist’s magic becomes increasingly sinister, Nella
must find the strength to take control of her life.
The
Miniaturist is the debut novel from UK author Burton, a
former actress. She writes of the prejudices and hypocrisies of the era very
much from a 21st century perspective with homosexuality, mixed raced
marriage and female independence all rolled out and credibility stretched wafer
thin at times.
It’s a highly wrought melodrama that fails to
spill all its own secrets. Still it is skillfully prosed, almost painterly in
its scene setting, and an absorbing read.
Footnote:
The Bookman was interested to note that rights in this title have been sold to 30 countries. It was the subject of a 12-publisher bidding war at the 2013 London Book Fair.Pretty impressive for a first novel.
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