I’m trying not to give much away, but I think they were very accurate to the time and the way the other citizens of Amsterdam reacted were varied but all understandable. She was scared, made some moves that didn’t help the situation, and ultimately came to terms with what was going on and found her way. Nella’s situation was stranger than most, but she handled it in a realistic way. I think a lot of people have been thrust into a new situation, maybe a new city or new job or new school, and felt completely alone and unable to make new friends. She was more dynamic than I anticipated and I almost liked her in the end. I think having them in the book helped move the plot, especially when Agnes started second guessing herself at the end. They were closed-minded, self-centered, and greedy. They represented more of my idea of people from that era. The Meermans made a good foil for the Brandts. He saw Nella and Marin as very equal to himself instead of ‘dumb women.’ He also saw that Otto was a smart man in a time when blacks were out-of-place in Europe and considered lowly. He was successful yet humble and had found a way to tell his sister and servants about his (no spoilers!) state of being without them reacting negatively. Johannes was a very modern man for his time. I liked that on some level, but I wish there had been more. I was hoping for more from the title but got nothing. The Miniaturist didn’t play a major role in the book and thinking back on it, didn’t affect the plot at all. I thought the book was a good depiction of life in 1600s Amsterdam and the characters were well-developed, but I felt the book could have been 100 pages shorter and had just as much action. I thought it was going to sweep me off my feet. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. 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. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. 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 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.īut Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. 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.

Book review the miniaturist