Yahoo Movies See the cover for The Miniaturist author Jessie Burton's new novel
Jessie Burton is finally ready to take readers back to historical Amsterdam.
The bestselling author behind 2014's The Miniaturist, which was also adapted into TV series starring Anya Taylor-Joy, returns with her first novel in eight years. The House of Fortune is both a stand-alone novel and a companion story to The Miniaturist.
EW can exclusively reveal the cover to Burton's latest, featuring the silhouette of a pineapple — an 18th-century European symbol of hospitality — and a shrouded figure of death. The novel hits shelves Aug. 30.
Bloomsbury The cover of 'The House of Fortune' by Jessie Burton
Burton takes readers to Amsterdam in 1705, where we return to her Brandt family, encountering Thea Brandt on her 18th birthday. Thea is eager to embrace adulthood, but she also must cope with her father Otto and Aunt Nella's arguments over their financial straits and their continued attempts to sell of furniture to keep their family home.
As catastrophe loos on the horizon, Thea loses herself in Amsterdam's playhouses. Not only does she love to watch the performances, but she indulges in stolen moments backstage with her lover, Walter, the chief set-painter, who crafts perfect environments for comedies and tragedies alike. As Thea loses herself in him to distract from troubles at home, she also can't help but think of her mother's tragic death giving birth to her.
Thea knows little of the details of her mother, Marin, and her untimely end. The family are terrified to speak of "the miniaturist" — a shadowy figure from their past, who has the uncanny ability to capture that which is hidden.
Meanwhile Aunt Nella, who readers may remember as the heroine of The Miniaturist, is determined to find Thea a suitable husband, hoping an invitation to Amsterdam's most exclusive ball might be the unexpectedly perfect opportunity she's been waiting for. But when a parcel containing a miniature figure of Walter arrives on Thea's doorstep, it's evident someone has another fate in mind.
Described as "an unputdownable novel about love and obsession, family and loyalty, and the fantastic power of secrets," The House of Fortune returns readers to Burton's fantastical, sweeping storytelling.
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