Reading Challenge/The Miniaturist

A book a friend recommended

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Nella feels weighed down by the pointless loss of Marin’s life, the many unanswered questions. Frans, Johannes, Otto – this trio of men, did they know her sister-in-law any better than she?

  “Well?” asks Pellicorne impatiently.

  Nella clears her throat. “T’can vekeeren,” she replies.

  “Is that all?”

  “Yes,” she says. “T’can vekeeren.”

  Things can change.

In the end, I realized that it’s not quite the story of Nella, but rather a story of the family told by Nella. A story of the era, and of the fragile, tangled, pointless lives. It seems to be a lot of secrets but it’s actually what people valued at that time.

“’Freedom is a glorious thing. Free yourself, Marin. The bars on your cage are of your own making.’ Well, it’s all very well freeing yourself, but there’s always someone who has to pay.”

What’s freedom? And what is it we have to pay for? We still have rules, systems, laws to follow nowadays, what if it’s not freedom that we ask for? And what if freedom is used just as Frans and Jack and the whole city did?

It was not as scary as I imagined but was a relatively sad one. I still don’t know where the doll of the wet-nurse came from and why exactly the miniaturist chose Nella, and the ending leaves so much behind. But I sort of understand why it ends this way. Nella learns that counting on the cabinet won’t do any good and that she should be the one in control of her life. After all, she was doing just fine in all the chaos and managed to survive and save Thea. The cabinet was a sign, but not a solution.

“God knows her husband has not always been the most prudent judge of character, but when it comes to Marin, Johannes has always known his sister’s worth. He has years stored up of her brilliance, and her gentler moods. Perhaps he watched her change from a bright girl to a harder woman who couldn’t find the path she’d plotted in her head. He is generous about her, and to Nella, it is almost as if all Marin’s selves are with them, shining in the gloom of the cell.”

This love between brother and sister is overwhelming. Though it’s not really clear that if Johannes and Nella love each other, it seems easier to believe that it’s because of love.