The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
The best thing about this book is its cover. I am completely in love with it. The story itself, however, does not live up to the beauty of its packaging, which just brings to mind the old worn phrase of never judging a book by its cover.
I read through the first 10% in a state of boredom. Very little happened. An 18 year old girl's marriage to a merchant 20 years her senior was arranged. She arrived at her new home. That's all that happened in the first 30 pages or so. When the miniature dollhouse arrived, that's when I began to feel interested, paid more attention to the characters - they have their own secrets, all of them, except perhaps the maid girl, a not-very-bright girl listening to snatches of conversations at keyholes and filling in the blanks with her own imagination. Typical behaviour of house servants.
There were secrets and mysteries, some of which I felt was not resolved very well - for instance, how did the miniaturist knew what she knew - she just knew. Right. Well, a bit disappointing, that.
I'm not expecting a well-tied up ending with no loose ends, but the ending to this one just felt so unfinished.