AUTHOR: Jessie Burton
As a longtime collector of dollhouse miniatures, I wanted to read this book from the moment I read the first review praising it. Set in Amsterdam in the second half of 1686, the story revolves around Nella, an eighteen-year-old ready to start her life as a married woman, despite barely knowing her much older new husband, Johannes Brandt. Johannes is a successful merchant trader who travels a lot, and even when he's home, he shows no interest in intimacy or in consummating the marriage. Along with her husband's apparent lack of interest in her, Nella must also contend with his sister, Marin, who seems to view Nella as an intruder. Then Johannes gifts Nella with a dollhouse in a cabinet, leading Nella to commission the assistance of a mysterious miniaturist to furnish the dollhouse. As pieces arrive from the miniaturist whom Nella never meets -- the orders are commissioned by letter, then delivered by someone else -- Nella is struck by the exquisite craftmanship and how they eerily start to mirror her own life, almost predicting what will happen next. Curious and imaginative, Nella is determined to solve the mystery of the miniaturist and that of the aloof Brandt siblings.
I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this due to the writing style, more flowery than I usually read, but it didn't take long for me to get into the rhythm. While I wouldn't call this a page-turner -- few of the plot twists really surprised me -- it was a fast read. It's also a good exploration of a place and time where religion and conservative values ruled, a time with few options for women and a place where commerce was controlled by guilds. I also came to care deeply for all the characters, servants included, who called the Brandt townhouse their home.
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