Jessie Burton's writing is beautiful, lyrical even. She really set the scene of late 17th Century Amsterdam. I devoured this book in 4 days! I would have liked to give it a better rating, but I did not like the story itself. SPOILERS AHEAD. My biggest problem was that the supernatural powers of the "miniaturist" were not explained. Then three-fourths of the way into the story, this character leaves or gets taken away by the burgomasters--this is not entirely clear--but what IS clear is that the character is gone. Now the story is just about a man who is being tried for "unholy acts" and the shattered family he leaves behind. If the miniaturist had remained part of the story, and been able to help him/them out of their problems, I would have liked it better.