Blog 44 – Read another book, followed another book trail – Welcome to Linda's Journey; now hosted by Adventure Cow!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Just like The Coffee Trader blog entry, (blog 40) this is more about the places from the book than the actual book itself. I again selected a book from the: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4284.Books_Set_in_Amsterdam list available online. I did not check the Book Trail website before selecting it, and was surprised after reading it that this book showed up on it also. https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-trails/

The Miniaturist is similarly set during the Golden Age of Amsterdam, so it’s locations are similarly set in the older, central, part of the city. https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/about-amsterdam/amsterdam-neighbourhoods/centre This is super convenient for tracking down the various locations. Similarly to the experience of looking for Coffee Trader locations, searching out where The Miniaturist takes place also forced me to look at buildings I had been just walking right past.

I have modified the map from the book trail website, just a wee bit. I have added a few more places mentioned in the book, most were not key locations, but may add interest. I put the red flag next to their names on the list and the revised map locations. https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-trails/the-miniaturist/

Going in order then, our first stop is The Oude Kerk, or Old Church. https://oudekerk.nl/ This is where the novel opens as we witness a very simple, yet surprisingly well attended, funeral service. As was custom, the church is used not only for the service but also for the burying; as in this case the deceased is lowered below the stone floor in the less desirable location of the east corner. The old church is old; it was founded in 1213 and consecrated in 1306. It remains a dominant building within Amsterdam (Red Light District) and since its re-opening in 2013 performs various cultural functions making it central to the community. When I visited it a few weeks ago, the quarterly art installation was “Poems for Earthlings”; an immersive experience which made seeing the actual insides of the church, as a church, difficult as it was dark, lit only by candlelight.

Item B on the map is the Herengracht. Petronella Oortman has married the owner of the house, Johannes Brandt, and come to live with him on the Golden Bend of the Heregracht. The Gentleman’s Canal is indeed identified by the “B” marker on the map – but this part of the canal is not The Golden Bend of the Herengracht. I have added a red marker to the map to indicate the actual location of the Golden Bend which is further east in the newer half of the canal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouden_Bocht

The Kalverstraat is next. It is here that Petronella finds the Miniaturist’s shop and is introduced to the bakery of Hanna and her husband Arnoud by her maid, Cornelia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalverstraat Just as it was 400 years ago, this is a street filled with small shops selling all types of items; though many now are of the “chain” variety – H&M, Zara, Foot Locker, and of course, McDonalds.

Stay with me here as we skip two points of interest from the maps list of locations, and spend a few words on The Royal Palace, item number F on the list. https://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/ Previous to becoming royal, this was the City Hall (Stadhuis) which also housed the treasury and dungeons. It is here that Johannes’ friend/enemy, Meermans, works and it is here that Johannes is imprisoned and ultimately sentenced for his crimes.

Next, after skipping item G, is my added location of The VOC (Dutch East India Company) on the old Hoogstraat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oost-Indisch_Huis In our story it was here that Johannes Brandt maintained his work office and it was here where a pivotal encounter took place, on which much of the story hinges.

During a dinner held at Petronella and Johannes’ home on the Heregracht, Agnes Meermans displays her piety by expressing her gratefulness to God that she is not among those who commit petty crimes and are sentenced to work for the city, and for their souls forgiveness at the Spinhuis for women, https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinhuis_(Amsterdam) or the Rasphuis for men. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasphuis (See red markers on list and map)

As they are out shopping, Cornelia takes Petronella past her old home which carries the sign of children dressed in black and red grouped around a dove, it was the orphanage. We don’t learn much about the maid’s childhood, but we can visit the location – it is now the Amsterdam Museum. https://www.amsterdammuseum.nl/en

The inscription over the gate, with the children, with the dove, Google translates to: We grow up in numbers and drink us second fathers complain. Ay don’t go through this gate or help carry a little

As we return to the list of locations provided by the book trail, we find we have reached the end of locations actually in the book. Item D, The Rijksmuseum, is not part of the story; but is credited with giving the author the idea for it when she viewed the Doll House (curated between 1686 and 1710) which belonged to the real Petronella Oortman, among the collection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronella_Oortman

Item #E is the Vondel Hotel. Just off the canal zone and steps away from the Vondel park, this small hotel is typical of accommodation in this area; notwithstanding the huge Marriot down the street. I have not been inside this particular hotel – but, if I were guessing, the rooms are modern, clean, and very small. It is included because it is said the author, Jessie Burton, stayed in this particular hotel while writing the book.

Albert Cuyp Market, Amsterdam’s most famous street market, is the final stop on our book trail. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Cuyp_Market While it is old, it dates only back to 1905; 250 years short of the Golden Age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Golden_Age It has been added to the list for a particular shop at the market selling the tasty Poffertjes which Cornelia makes for Petronella. http://www.poffertjesalbertcuyp.nl/ These small pancakes are a Dutch treat available not only at Albert Cuyp, but all over the Netherlands.

With this, another book trail is complete. Putting The Miniaturist in the Little Library down the street, I am moving on to The Light of Amsterdam, by David Park. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13449104-the-light-of-amsterdam I know little of this book other than I have already checked, there is not an existing book trail posted for it and it is not set in the Golden Age; a reading change of pace.

But wait – surely there must have been more than one reference to the ‘gable stones’ (blogs 39 and 40) in this book too; why yes, yes there were. At the “sign of the sun” on Kalverstraat is how the Miniaturist describes their shop location in the Smit’s List. In her first letter to the Miniaturist, Petronella signs her note ‘’at the sign of the dolphin, Herengracht”. It is at the sign of two sugar loaves that they find the confectioners, Hanna and Arnoud. And the text: “Sign of the fox on Prinsengracht” identifies the home of the Meermans.

As you can see below, I have looked pretty hard for these four signs; anything close to a dolphin eludes me still: