posted on 20 Jan 2016

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Even now, the city of Amsterdam is an enchanting mixture of orderliness and unorthodoxy. We have visited there several times over the years and always found it to be familiar, comfortable yet rather thrilling. This also seems to be the case in the way it is painted as the backdrop to this roller coaster story set in 1686 which gives us tantalising glimpses of wealth, power, art, religion, love and secrets through the eyes of the eighteen year old, Petronella Oortman who has recently married the illustrious much older merchant trader, Johannes Brandt. We understand that the wedding ceremony that took place some weeks earlier was low key and is as yet unconsummated. The book is the result of meticulous research and is very loosely based on the circumstances of a real couple living in Amsterdam with the same names. It seems that Burton was inspired to write this story by the magnificent cabinet house that belonged to the real Petronella that is now exhibited in The Rijksmuseum, a photograph of which appears at the front of the book.

The new bride, known as ' Nella' arrives from the country with her pet Parakeet, Peebo at the door of her imposing new home, one of many jewels' of architecture on the Herengracht Canal. She is greeted by her sister in law, Marin who at first appears to be cold and disdainful, like a Mrs Danvers character. The two rather insubordinate and unfriendly servants, Cornelia and Otto, the negro manservant of the master, add to her inauspicious welcome. When she at last meets with her husband, his response is very lukewarm and she feels lonely and homesick.

Despite his apparent indifference to her charms and seeming preference for the company of his two dogs, Johannes soon presents her with a very generous wedding gift which he explains is to distract and educate her: a nine roomed cabinet replica house handcrafted with exquisite materials. The outwardly abstemious Marin is outraged to hear that it cost three thousand guilders as 'a family could live off that for years.' Nevertheless, Nella is encouraged to furnish it and Marin gives her a directory of city tradespeople which includes details of a miniaturist who will be able to provide her with bespoke items. As it seems that this is to be the only responsibility that she is to be allowed in her new home, she orders three small items and awaits their arrival with some anticipation. The tiny objects are soon delivered to the house by a disarmingly handsome young Englishman who introduces himself as Jack Philips and who oddly seems to be well known to the residents. The parcel includes three extra unsolicited items for the cabinet house with the enigmatic message: 'Every woman is the architect of her own fortune'. And so the mysterious and very complicated adventure begins.

As we go deeper into the book, it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems in this superficially genteel household. As Nella grows in awareness of the many secrets, she matures, takes stock of her situation and begins to take control of a dangerous set of events that threaten the good name and prosperity of the household and ultimately lead to tragedy. She learns a great deal about loyalty and trust and develops some very close relationships in a short space of time. She also sees the duplicity of a wider society that can be swept along by a tide of righteous hatred.

What really worked for me was the keen atmosphere so carefully created from the outset. I have always loved seventeenth century Dutch paintings and these emblems of prosperity that were commissioned by wealthy merchants and displayed in their houses are described in beautiful detail. As well as describing the many still life paintings that fill the walls of the the house, the detailed interior domestic scenes that we witness taking place as readers are also reminiscent of Vermeer, De Hooch and others. One of the most vivid is described as Nella spies through the keyhole as Marin takes a bath and she is revealed as being far more voluptuous than her usual modest and prim exterior. There are further resonances with well known Dutch paintings as we are presented with skaters on the frozen canal and the proud guild members as they feast and talk about important business.

It is also an icily cold book which for me is reminiscent of one memorable visit to Amsterdam in the depths of winter. Even with the availability of central heating it was very difficult to get warm as the chilly wind whipped across the many canals and whistled down the narrow streets. In the seventeenth century, evident wealth did not mean that their houses were warm and all the characters in the book are swaddled in multiple layers for much of the time. To contrast with the coldness, Burton succeeds in conveying a homely warmth through descriptions of food, particularly the sugared sweet delicious fashioned by the pastry cooks whose gingerbread figures are for a time banned by the city Burghers as being dangerously Papist.

As a first novel it has has some flaws in terms of being believable. For instance, Nella's confidence in asserting her position and then addressing some truly difficult circumstances seems highly unlikely for a young inexperienced country girl, and some critics have suggested that she is more like a twenty first century teenager.  On reflection, it also tries to include at least one too many scandalous secrets. Despite this I really enjoyed this sumptuous feast of a story about love, hypocrisy, superstition and betrayal with a curious mystery at its heart.

 

Karen Argent

18th January 2016