"The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton - Book Club Review

Our October Book was "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton.


 A much hyped novel, which has uniformly received glowing reviews from leading critics and popular authors, we were all hoping for great things. The group met yesterday and were instantly in agreement that this novel did not deliver, and that it was a book that some felt obliged to finish and others just couldn't stand to continue it.


Some great conversation followed, and what follows is a summary of what we covered. I've paraphrased as best as possible, just to give a flavor of this discussion, which got very lively and passionate in places. Here's why:

Sijla : Silja summarized the issue very pithily with this comment - (slight spoiler alert!)

 "If I don’t care about a dead dog, something’s not right!"

As an experienced writer, Silja felt that this book read like someone’s first novel  produced for a creative writing exercise, or by a recent graduate, and felt very amateur and sorely in need of editing.  The plot took far too long to get started, and then she had to skim read, searching for the gems within it. She also felt that the miniaturist as a character was underdeveloped as a character, and that the writer had broken their contract with the reader – a fascinating point. When we read, we enter a unique relationship not only with the characters in the story, but the author behind it, who weaves the magic. If that illusion is broken, then readers can feel betrayed, disappointed and robbed of the promise of their expectations.

Candy: Candy felt obliged to finish it, and as a History student was hoping to really enjoy this book – but didn’t. She struggled with identifying the themes because it didn’t really possess any, and agreed that the plot and characters lacked interest, pace or any factor that would engage the reader.

The historical perspective and interest was lacking, which is deeply problematic in a book that uses this as its USP- as one of the primary delights in historical fiction is losing yourself in that particular milieu. Candy also felt that the ending was very disappointing, and raised more questions than it answered. This was unsatisfying and led her to wonder if the author was setting up for a sequel. There were also surprises in the plot that had received no signposting or indication, and felt very contrived. The group agreed with this.

Sharon: Sharon got about thirteen pages in, then gave up and read Jeffrey Archer instead. She felt that life was too short to struggle ahead reading dull books when there are so many good ones out there.

 Again, an interesting point which highlights some fundamental aspects of reading; we read for enjoyment, so what purpose is there in forcing yourself to finish a novel which you strongly dislike? One of the main purposes of this book club is to encourage reading as a pleasurable, enriching leisure activity - and making yourself read something is a surefire way to ruin that.

Sharon also made the very good point that plots should grip you, and keep you turning pages, asking questions and guessing what happens next. It should really immerse you in their world and the story. Any book that doesn't achieve that within the first few pages is ripe to be discarded and probably deserves that fate.

Caroline: Caroline stopped at page seventy, put the book down, and felt no need to continue with it. She very charitably asked if perhaps the tedium and feeling of containment and stagnancy was intentional on the part of the writer, to demonstrate Nella’s plight. The group however felt that this could have been done without creating the same mood in the reader. As Silja put it, "I read books to be entertained, not to hear – she woke up, she had a nightmare, she ate chips for breakfast, she went for a walk – waiting for something to happen!"

Caroline also agreed with Sharon on the appeal of Jeffrey Archer's writing, and the fact that he does tell an exceptionally good tale. The crucial importance of plot and pacing in delivering a satisfying novel was a key theme.

April : I very definitely agreed with the group on these points. The overarching feeling I was left with was disappointment – this was a book I had thoroughly hoped to like –  and had prepared myself to enjoy based on my love of history, magic and romance – and it decidedly fell flat. It simply did not deliver. The characters were not at all engaging or likeable, and the plot itself was disappointing, and felt disjointed.

Both Candy and I agreed the prologue was bad, and Candy wondered if it was placed at the opening to provide a hook to draw readers in, promising action once you got past the first hundred pages of boredom. Unfortunately it mainly succeeded in giving away the main source of dramatic tension.


Emily: Emily sent us this review:

"When this book was first released I was caught by the cover, although reading the blurb made me decided against buying it, as it was not my typical kind of book. The hype for this book made me look into getting it, but again I put it off, thinking I would never actually read it. When it was announced as the September Book Club read, I decided to bite the bullet and bought it on Kindle.

This book has surprised me. I went into this story thinking that it wouldn't be for me. I was instantly hooked into the story, even though I found that there was no real direction in the book. Some of the characters - and especially Marin- seemed far fetched, and I felt the need to have had more background in the character to perhaps have understood her. The title I also feel does not really fit into the book, as you could easily have taken out the "dolls house" element and the story would have continued the same. I would have liked to have had more on the miniaturist, especially after finding out Agnes also had a doll's house made after seeing Nellas. I was also disappointed that the miniaturist, Patronella, did not get to be involved in the conclusion of the story, as I felt this would have wrapped it up better. 

I found Nella grew on me as the story developed; from going into a house and family that she does not know in the slightest, and then having to work out her standing in a completely different class than the one she grew up in. I felt that as the book went on she grew into the woman that was needed in this house, to show them how to cope in hard times that Marin and Cornelia were not accustomed to.

The ending was very abrupt. I would like to have known what they were all going to do next especially in the circumstances that they all find themselves in now- maybe this will conclude in another book? Overall, even with the problems I personally had with the book, it was easy to read and I would recommend it to others for a different style of a novel based in the past."

Group Verdict: “The Miniaturist” – don’t believe the hype.