Toward the end of the novel when the main thrusting question of the plot has become: who is the father of the illegitimate baby? – you realize you’re actually comfortably in soap opera territory.
The remaining majority of the novel feels like an unrelenting series of climactic third act reveals. But then the revelations start coming fast and furiously. We sense the dark wooden corridors filled with dank, dusty air and an atmosphere that keeps our heroine continually out of earshot. The first third captures a certain ominous atmosphere. It definitely describes the novel you start, but it doesn’t really capture the spirit of the novel that you end up reading. This description only sort of describes the novel. She investigates this curious happening and throughout the novel grows into her role as head of a powerful household in Amsterdam. Nella begins receiving miniatures that seem to know everything that is going on in the house.
The new household, consisting of Brandt’s sister Marin, maid Cornelia and manservant Otto, is very unwelcoming to Nella’s smalltown sensibilities. The Miniaturist follows young Petronella Oortman as she arrives and becomes part of her new home in Amsterdam, after being wed to an older VOC merchant named Johannes Brandt. This way anyone who couldn’t be there, can still join in with the fun! Roy den Boer is taking over as our main reviewer for the book club books, judging all that we have picked. For every book we read during the book club, one of our book club members will write a review.
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