Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam--a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion--a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, Sarah Waters, and Sarah Dunant.
"There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . ."
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. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. 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.
But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. 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' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand--and fear--the escalating dangers that await them all. 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. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.
Review/Comment:
I finished this book in two weeks. Honestly, I chose this book a while ago because it reminds me of a crime in CSI about the miniaturist. I couldn't get hold the full picture when I read the synopsis and so I took it for a dive.
Goodreads give a total of 3.59 star and I think I know why. The whole idea of the mysterious miniaturist seems to wane when you go deeper into the plot. It instead revolves around the characters: Nella, Marin, Cornelia, Johannes and Otto and that miniaturist just seems to refuse to see any one of us at all, including the readers. This is frustrating!
In the end, the plot turns sloppy in explaining the miniaturist and then that's it. No more reference, just how the family deal with a series of unfortunate tragedies although I might be surprise and sad at Marin as she turns from a sharp-tongued lady to a soft one due to so many issues steaming out around her.
The story does little to the miniaturist and more on the characters on how they live their lives in Amsterdam. I don't like how Nella behaves. I don't think that's how ladies in that era behaves. I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong. And up till the last few pages, I think it is more on the relationship between Nella and Marin.
Quick read, but not that enjoyable actually.
