The Miniaturist: A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick and Beautifully Atmospheric Historical Novel

Very well written - loved the narrative style. Full of suspense and surprise - a compelling read.

Almost everyone finished the book apart from one who felt she really could not finish it as she did not enjoy it at all.

Everyone had a real problem with the end of the book, we felt that it was very hurried but at the same time it had too many lose ends and not enough clarity to it.

We all enjoyed the fact that we were reading about women becoming stronger through the book, while the men in story became weaker and weaker. We were essentially watching the unravelling of this family group as the various rules outside the house were gradually seen to be being broken within the house. This was an interesting discussion point within the group. We all decided we enjoyed watching Petronella becoming such a strong woman who really tried her best given the circumstances to protect her family.

We also discussed the whole aspect of the miniaturist and why she was in the book at all. Some people felt that she was somewhat pointless and just confusing, while others felt she was an interesting gothic element along the lines of Daphne Du Maurier.

We felt that the ending of the book means that there is hope, even though such tragic things happened during the rest of the book. We kind of want to know what happened next, but understand that we'll just never know. We also wanted some kind of short story about the miniaturist to explain where she came from and where she went.

Overall we gave this book 6 out of 10.

It is a wonderful painting of Holland in the late 17th Century and you can feel the atmosphere and the times through her lovely elegant plot and characters. It was frustrating at times as some of the situations seemed to be too perfectly dealt with and though not always satisfyingly. All in all though it was a good read and a good first novel.

This was read by the London Ladies Book Club - formerly Leering Ladies

The Hunstanworth Village Hall Book Group rated this on the whole higher than I would have rated it (they would have given it four stars).
An interesting novel with a few twists but many of which were never really explained, e.g. where the miniatures were coming from and how the make knew specific details about the house.
As other reviewers have written, there wasn't really a good ending for any of the characters. However, it did keep me interested to the end - but there seemed to be too many loose ends that were tied up very quickly.

I am interested in 17th century Amsterdam and started this book with high expectations. I was ultimately disappointed. It tells the story of Nella who has married an older man and arrives at his house in Amsterdam. The family have secret and these are slowly revealed. The miniaturist of the title is a mysterious woman who seems to know too much about the household. I felt that the book promised more than it delivered in the end and would not recommend that highly.

I liked it. Was hooked all the way through. I was disappointed with the ending as it was sad for all and you never properly found out about the miniaturist herself

A disturbing story which takes you right on to the streets of 17th century Amsterdam and into the house of merchant Johannes and his new wife. Very strong writing for a first novel with images and characters that linger long after the final page. Perhaps the author tried to achieve too much in one book which led to some strange plot twists and a slightly unsatisfactory explanation of the role of the 'miniaturist'. But I'll read her next book...