Book 2 of The Miniaturist Duology
This book is set 18 years after The Miniaturist. Otto and Marin’s child, Thea Brandt is in love with Walter who works at the Schouwburg as a set painter. Unbeknownst to Thea, Walter is married and he and his wife are blackmailing Thea because they think she is very rich since her family lives on the Herengracht.
Otto, who stepped into Johannes Brandt’s business after both Johannes and his sister Marin died, is struggling in business – the Brandt family is in financial decline. He wants to marry his daughter, Thea off to a very wealthy man. Once Thea learns of Walter’s deceit, she agrees to the wedding.
On her wedding day Thea is a no show at the church, she has run off to her aunt Nella’s childhood home in Assendelft.
This book is a fabulous sequel to The Miniaturist: Thea is a very likeable character. Even though Nella has been widowed for 18 years, she never remarried, instead she stayed in Johannes Brandt’s house and raised her late sister in law Marin’s daughter. I highly recommend it! This was a re-read for me. This time I listened to the audiobook which was fabulous, the only problem I had was the mispronunciation of Dutch placenames and names. (I am Dutch so the mistakes were very obvious to me)
Read for the Read Between the Lines Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 14: A Historical Fiction Novel
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
