As we reported earlier, Cuyahoga Public Library’s Wendy Bartlett increased her orders for The Miniaturist, by Jessie Burton, (HarperCollins/Ecco; HarperLuxe) after it received an enthusiastic review in the locally influential Cleveland Plain Dealer,

After reading it herself, she reported to staff:

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. Oh, wait. Similar plot, different book. Instead of the 20th century England of Rebecca, we’re in the 17th century Amsterdam of The Miniaturist. If your readers like a strong sense of place and a highly readable book, they’ll love this one.

I read The Miniaturist in two sittings, even though I figured out the family secrets in the first 100 pages (Jessie Burton could take some pointers on suspense from DuMaurier). However, the pacing is unusually strong for a historical novel, the mystery surrounding The Miniaturist holds up throughout, and you really do feel like you’re in 17th century Amsterdam, which is no small feat.

Holds are building, and I think this one will continue to have strong word of mouth, so it will behoove you to give it a look.

Happy Reading!

If you can’t get your hands on a copy, you can read a sample via OverDrive.

It is an August LibraryReads pick, gets an  A-, in Entertainment Weekly. The author was profiled in The Wall Street Journal.

Check your holds; they are heavy in some areas.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2014 at 10:47 am and is filed under Fiction, Historical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.