There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed...
On an autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at a grand house in Amsterdam to begin her new life as the wife of wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. Though curiously distant, he presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations ring eerily true.
As Nella uncovers the secrets of her new household she realizes the escalating dangers they face. The miniaturist seems to hold their fate in her hands - but does she plan to save or destroy them?
I really wanted to love this book but I have to say, it was a little disappointing. I'm going to start with the positives simply because I feel like I never do that and say Jessie Burton is a great story-teller, and she has a wonderful way with words. I couldn't really put this book down, and I found myself reading this in times I probably shouldn't have been.
Saying that, I entered this book with a lot of high hopes - mostly because I mis-read the back and thought the dolls were what came to life, not that the dolls were just a reflection on their life. Oops. I wanted to know the story of the miniaturist and even when the book had long been finished with, I felt like I still had more to read, like there was a whole section cut out of this book. The answer to the miniaturist was something so small and simple, I didn't see the point in it being there at all.
I loved the focus on the oppression of women, coloured people and the homosexual in the late 1600's in this book, and how much we have achieved (even though sexism, racism and homophobia is still very much a problem). It gave me a new focus on the 1600's, apart from the fact that I felt Burton's description on some things were a far too modern take on it - some may like that, some may not.
It was also hard to believe the love between the small Brandt family because Nella was there for around four months, and to me, that wasn't really long enough for Johannes and Nella to form any sort of real connection, especially giving Johannes' circumstances and the small fact that they probably spoke no more then three or four times.This didn't stop me from loving the little they had between them, though. I can somewhat feel the bond she had formed with the other members of the household, though, as she spent quite a lot of time with them considering.
As for the characters themselves, I don't think Cornelia/Otto had enough character development in order for me to judge them. Nella gets annoying (REALLY annoying) the more you read the book, and personally, I really liked Marin and I hated how much Nella and Johannes butted into her privacy constantly. Even the most level tempered of people would probably get sick of that, too.
Also, the book was bordering melodramatic, and in some cases I could appreciate that, but it wasn't realistic and I couldn't really be sucked into that.
Overall, I gave this book a 3.5.
No comments:
Post a Comment