The House of Fortune

March 1, 2022

In 1943 Honolulu, cryptanalysist Isabel Cooper is concerned when the only other female codebreaker at Station Hypo goes missing; perhaps The Codebreaker's Secret is uncovered in 1965 when a rookie reporter and a crusty old-timer discover a skeleton near the ever-so-fancy Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Ackerman's (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Burton's The House of Fortune, a companion to the New York Times best-selling The Miniaturist, 18-year-old Thea Brandt hides out in 1700s Amsterdam's playhouses from her family's money quarrels, refusal to discuss her mother's death, and fear of the mysterious, soul-capturing Miniaturist (200,000-copy first printing). In Carey's 1950s Britain, ruled by a triumphant Reich that ranks women from the gorgeous (and advantaged) Gelis to those past childbearing good for domestic drudgery and living in Widowland, a Geli named Rose Ransom gets involved with subversion against the government. Narrated by a small-potatoes lesbian gossip columnist, Charyn's Big Red reimagines the entwined careers of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles. With The Thread Collectors, debuter Edwards joins the USA TODAY best-selling Richman in a story paralleling New Orleans-based Black woman Stella, who embroiders intricate maps for enslaved men intending to flee and join the Union army, with New York-based white, Jewish, abolitionist Lily, who rolls bandages for Union soldiers and wants to join her husband fighting in Louisiana (125,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover). In debuter Sivak's Mademoiselle Revolution, Sylvie de Rosiers, the biracial daughter of a rich white planter and an enslaved Black woman, flees her privileged life in Haiti during the revolution and ends up in Paris amid another revolution, befriending Robespierre and his strong-willed mistress, Corn�lie.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 23, 2022
Burton returns with a captivating standalone companion to 2014’s The Miniaturist. In 1705 Amsterdam, 18-year-old Thea Brandt lives in a cold mansion with her father, Otto, a Black man who was formerly enslaved; her aunt Nella; and her elderly nursemaid and cook Cornelia. The family can barely afford the house, which Otto inherited, leading to Nella intensifying her efforts to find a wealthy husband for Thea, whose mother was white, and Otto thinking about partnering with a botanist to cultivate pineapples in Holland. Thea finds refuge at a nearby theater with her friend Rebecca, a fierce and talented leading lady; and Walter, the chief set-painter and Thea’s secret lover. However, after Walter breaks her heart, Thea resigns herself to marrying a wealthy lawyer from a prominent family. Throughout, the mysterious “miniaturist” of the previous book surreptitiously delivers warnings in the form of detailed figurines on Thea’s doorstep, each with its own eerie significance and seeming supernatural power, just as she had done years ago with Nella. While the ending feels a little abrupt, the vibrant period detail, the characters’ vibrant inner lives, and Thea’s fulfilling journey to maturity make for a winning combination. Readers will relish the return of Nella and her world. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency.

May 15, 2022
Burton's The Miniaturist (2014) was an international bestseller with a subsequent TV miniseries, and this keenly awaited sequel should more than fulfill expectations. Exhibiting the same finely etched atmosphere of historic Amsterdam, it deepens characterizations by bringing the action forward while illuminating the childhood of the original protagonist, Nella. In 1705, secrets flourish in the Brandt house on the Herengracht canal. Nella's mixed-race niece, 18-year-old Thea, who knows little about her mother or events before her birth, conducts a furtive romance with an unsuitable man. With money tight, Nella hopes to find Thea a rich husband who will improve their fortunes. Thea's father, Otto, has his own ideas, and their competing plans clash dramatically. Meanwhile, the miniaturist of Burton's previous novel, whose designs are unnervingly perceptive, has returned with gifts for Thea. With an artistic eye, Burton explores women's lives, socioeconomic concerns, and the ways they intersect. This tale has few of the first novel's supernatural elements, instead emphasizing the effect of the miniaturist's creations. Both heroines grow and change in this smartly written historical novel about family relationships and recognizing truth.

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July 1, 2022
Hemmed in by long-kept silences and problematic histories, a complicated family in 18th-century Amsterdam struggles to find its future. Burton's sequel to her bestselling debut, The Miniaturist (2014), picks up a generation later, in 1705, in a world riddled with secrets. Nella Brandt, the challenged wife of the previous book, now returns as aunt to 18-year-old Thea, the illegitimate daughter of her sister-in-law Marin and Otto, the African manservant who worked for Nella's late husband. As the story opens, Thea, conducting a forbidden love affair with a scene painter at the Schouwburg Theatre, still yearns to understand the circumstances of her secret conception and to know more about the mother who died giving birth to her. Moreover, what are the details of Otto's background in Surinam and Nella's choice never to return to her now-derelict family home, Assendelft? The Brandts are also keeping secret from society at large the fact that they have no savings left and that Otto has lost his job. And there's one more family enigma that may have resurfaced, as perfect, small, doll-like crafted objects start appearing on their doorstep. Has the strangely prescient miniaturist who haunted Nella's marriage returned? Despite this welter of intrigues, there's a static feel to the novel's first half, scarcely alleviated by the introduction of Jacob van Loos, a wealthy possible suitor for Thea who might be the solution to the family's financial distress. While two dramatic turning points eventually jolt the narrative forward, the story's plotting is limited and its mood dominated by introspection, reminiscence, and unhappiness. Among a cast of isolated characters, it falls to Nella to act as the lynchpin once again, enabling a resolution which arrives sweetly but without answers to many of the preceding questions. The magic is missing in this intense yet less-well-consolidated return trip.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2022

Fans of Burton's best-selling novel The Miniaturist will find this a worthy and satisfying sequel. In 1705 Amsterdam, Thea Brandt is celebrating her 18th birthday. The joy of the occasion is muted by her family's refusal to speak of her mother (who died giving birth to Thea), their strained finances, and Thea's recent moodiness. Her father, Otto, is struggling to see Thea as an adult, and her Aunt Nella is determined to get her married into a comfortable life free of the woes Nella has faced as a widow with diminishing fortunes in status-obsessed Amsterdam. An invitation to a ball hosted by one of Amsterdam's wealthiest families introduces the Brandts to a well-off young man, to a strange pineapple grower, and possibly to the miniaturist who sent Nella oddly prescient gifts years ago, when the miniaturist herself was 18. Will these three people help the Brandts return to their prior life of fortune, or will their carefully crafted fa�ade finally crumble? VERDICT A beautifully written and wholly engrossing tale. New readers will be delighted that they can enjoy this book without having read the first one, but they'll probably seek it out to spend a bit more time in Burton's magical Amsterdam.--Portia Kapraun

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.