The Miniaturist is the latest novel to be tackled by the Ballymena Bookclub. the Ballymena Bookclub meets in Waterstones in Ballymena on the first Wednesday of every month and head out for a coffee and a chat. Last month they enjoyed Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D.James and this month they have decided to read The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. The book was announced as the Waterstones Book of the Year 2014 and Jessie shared this on the Waterstones blog:

A novice in these things, once my novel was published, I thought my job would be done. Such an uphill climb it had been to get to that point, I was unaware that this was merely the beginning. Over sixty events later, talking about the book, I can tell you that the view is astounding. I get asked a lot – “how does it feel?” – the no.1Sunday Times slot, the top ten for over two months, over 110,000 copies sold in the UK, holding my own against astonishing big-hitters, the National Book Awards New Writer of the Year – and now, Waterstones Book of the Year 2014 – an incredible honour – and I often find myself responding with clichés. Amazing, wonderful, incredible. Life-changing. The phrase is merely a sleeve, brushing your hand in the dark.

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The Miniaturist follows 18 year old Nella as she moves in with the family of her new mysterious husband. Set in the streets of Amsterdam in 1686, the story takes a puzzling twist when Nella is gifted a beautiful cabinet-like dolls house and it begins to fill up with mini replicas from her new home. The Miniaturist seems to know more about Nella and her new life than she would like – is she in danger while trying to find out what is going on?

We are reading here at Ballymena Today and so far we are hooked. Join the Ballymena Bookclub on Wednesday 4th February and discuss the award winning tale, The Miniaturist.