62 pages • 2 hours read
Jessie BurtonThe Miniaturist
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3, Chapters 27-35Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “December, 1686”
Part 3, Chapter 27 Summary: “Stains”
As Nella cleans up the blood in the hall, Cornelia cries over Rezeki, whom Johannes rescued as a puppy. They take the dog’s dead body to the cellar. Otto blames himself for Rezeki’s death and feels he has endangered the household. Reaching for Otto’s hand, Marin says she does not believe Jack will risk going to the authorities.
Nella’s next parcel from the miniaturist contains a verkeerspel board. Realizing she never delivered her request for the board, Nella discovers her letter to the miniaturist has disappeared from her pocket. An accompanying note with the parcel reads, “THE TURNIP CANNOT THRIVE IN THE TULIP’S PATCH OF SOIL” (225).
Nella sinks a miniature fish knife into the chest of Jack’s doll. She picks up Rezeki’s miniature and notices a red stain on the dog’s head. Nella writes to the miniaturist, asking what she should do.
In the early hours of the morning, Nella gets up, intending to deliver her letter to the miniaturist. However, she is distracted by a strange noise. Going down to the cellar, Nella sees Marin, who appears to be washing bloody rags. Marin angrily orders Nella to get out.
Part 3, Chapter 28 Summary: “Sweet Weapons”
Nella knocks and shouts outside the miniaturist’s premises. Another merchant opens the door and reveals the miniaturist left a week earlier. Asking Nella’s name, he hands her a package. The St. George Militia ride by, and Nella sees Frans among them. She calls out to him, but he snubs her. Nella opens the package to find miniature pastries inside. The message reads, “DON’T LET SWEET WEAPONS STRAY” (234).
Part 3, Chapter 29 Summary: “The Empty Space”
Back at the house, Cornelia greets Nella. The maid reveals that Johannes has returned and does not know about Rezeki’s death. Nella steels herself to break the news to Johannes, but when he hugs her, she cannot bring herself to tell him. Marin enters the room and asks Johannes how much sugar he sold in Venice. When he admits that trade was poor, they start to argue. Marin accuses Johannes of behaving carelessly and asks what he thinks will happen when the burgomasters discover his sexual orientation. Johannes responds by accusing Marin of being a burden. Furious, Marin bluntly tells her brother that Jack killed Rezeki. Johannes goes to the cellar and cries over his beloved dog.
Part 3, Chapter 30 Summary: “The Witness”
For a couple of days, the household is tense and quiet. Johannes is frequently absent, and Nella hears Marin vomiting. Thinking about the miniaturist’s last message, Nella picks up Agnes’s doll and sees the tip of the sugar loaf she holds has turned black. Nella tries to separate the sugar from the doll but accidentally snaps off Agnes’s hand.
Rereading the miniaturist’s advert, Nella writes to Lucas Windelbreke, the clockmaker the miniaturist trained under. Johannes tells Nella he is confident he can sell the sugar in January. He is moved when Nella gives him the miniature of Rezeki. Early the next morning, the household wakes to find that Otto has gone.
Part 3, Chapter 31 Summary: “Souls and Purses”
Cornelia is devastated by her friend’s disappearance. Johannes looks for Otto, ignoring Nella’s instruction to check on the sugar. Marin believes Otto has fled to London to protect them and admits she suggested he do so. When Nella accuses her sister-in-law of treating them like puppets, Marin loses her temper and throws food at the wall.
Christmas arrives, and Otto does not return. Marin looks drawn and ill, while Cornelia loses interest in her household chores. Johannes explains his absences by claiming to be looking for Otto or trying to sell the sugar. Nella continues to check the miniature sugar loaf but sees no change in its black tip. Marin moves her bowl of candied walnuts to the hall and eats them openly. One day, she clutches her stomach, professing to have eaten too many.
While Johannes is out, Frans stops by, demanding to speak to him. Frans reveals he has been to the warehouse with Agnes, and some of the sugar is moldy. He also claims that, as he and his wife exited the warehouse, they saw Johannes sexually assaulting a young man. Marin begs Frans to take pity on Johannes as a friend, but Frans states they have not been friends for years.
Part 3, Chapter 32 Summary: “Escape”
When Frans leaves, Marin collapses. Nella says they must warn Johannes to allow him to escape before Frans tells the burgomasters. She also suggests they sell the sugar themselves to pay off the Meermanses.
When Johannes returns that night, he agrees to Nella’s plan. He gives his wife a list of possible buyers for the sugar and the name of an agent. He also asks Nella to take care of Marin, claiming his sister is more vulnerable than she appears. Nella tells Johannes she will miss him.
Part 3, Chapter 33 Summary: “Horseshoe”
When the St. George Militia arrives at the door the next day, Marin asks Nella to deal with them. Nella tells the guards Johannes is traveling. She tries to close the door, but the men force their way in. The leader of the militia claims an Englishman was attacked, and there are two witnesses to corroborate his story. As Nella defends her husband, a boy runs in, declaring Johannes has been found on a ship 60 miles away.
While Nella watches the militia leave, she sees people staring from nearby windows. Marin warns Nella against visiting Johannes at the Stadhuis (prison), suggesting they should publicly distance themselves from the scandal. Nella accuses her sister-in-law of heartlessness, and Marin pins her against the wall. She blames her brother for abandoning them.
Part 3, Chapter 34 Summary: “Hidden Bodies”
On New Year’s Eve, Nella notices an overpowering smell coming from Marin’s room and hears her sister-in-law crying. Opening the door, she sees Marin holding a foul-smelling drink. Nella thinks about Marin’s recent spates of sickness and the cradle sent by the miniaturist. Touching Marin’s stomach, she realizes her sister-in-law is pregnant.
Marin confesses that she is seven months pregnant and has been disguising her figure with many layers of clothing. She also admits to staining her rags with pig’s blood to create the impression she was menstruating so Cornelia would not guess her condition. Marin promises she will not drink the foul-smelling substance—an abortifacient. Nella realizes the concoction would kill Marin, as her pregnancy is so advanced.
Marin declares her baby will be “stained” by sin. Nella tries to convince Marin to tell Frans that she is having his baby, as he might take mercy on Johannes.
Part 3, Chapter 35 Summary: “No Anchor”
When Nella reveals Marin’s pregnancy, Cornelia insists they must keep the baby. For the first time, Nella allows the maid to look inside her cabinet. Cornelia takes out Marin’s doll and notices a pregnancy bump under her dress. Shocked, Cornelia assumes that Nella has betrayed Marin by ordering the doll this way. Nella tells Cornelia about the miniaturist and her prophecies. The maid is suspicious, believing the miniaturist must be a witch.
Part 3, Chapters 27-35 Analysis
The title of Chapter 27, “Stains,” refers to a series of events that plunge the Brandt household into chaos. The blood-stained hallway marks Rezeki’s murder and Otto’s fight with Jack. The dark stains on the miniatures of Rezeki and the sugar loaf mark one disaster that has occurred and another yet to be discovered. Nella also sees Marin washing rags stained with blood, though these stains are part of a ruse. Finally, Marin claims that her unborn baby is “stained” by sin, a figurative reference to the social stigma of a child conceived outside wedlock. If Frans were the father, a further “sin” would be adultery, but because Otto is the father, Marin will face a different stigma: the taboo of interracial relationships. Secrets constitute the heart of the narrative, and the baby’s skin tone will reveal Marin’s secret for her.
The changes Nella notices in the miniatures underline the novel’s motif of observation. Discovering the mark on Rezeki’s head, the black-tipped sugar loaf, and the curved belly of Marin’s doll, Nella cannot be sure if they are new developments or if recent events have simply drawn her attention to them. Consequently, she does not know if the miniatures represent “echoes or presages” (227). Nella realizes that her expectations and prejudices often lead her to misinterpret what she sees. For example, when she catches Marin staining her menstrual rags with pig’s blood, Nella assumes her sister-in-law is cleaning them out of shame. When Otto disappears, Nella notes Cornelia’s distress and the fact that the maid is the first to report his absence. Consequently, she wonders if Cornelia and Otto are lovers. It does not occur to Nella that Marin’s role in Otto’s disappearance was an act of sacrifice to protect the man she loves.
The escalation of catastrophic events in this part of the novel signals the “spill[ing] over” predicted earlier by Otto in Chapter 4. The decline of the Brandt household is reflected in its dwindling numbers. Otto’s disappearance and Johannes’s arrest leave an all-female household. At the same time, Marin’s strong, composed exterior begins to slip, showing her vulnerability. Her purchase of an abortifacient evinces her desperation, while her open consumption of the candied walnuts suggests she lacks the will to keep up the appearance of pious frugality.
As other members of the household bow under pressure, Nella’s character gains new agency. After Rezeki is killed and Jack is stabbed, it is Nella who cleans up the blood. The protagonist also asserts her authority by instructing Marin to be quiet when she cruelly informs Johannes of Rezeki’s death. Cornelia and Marin increasingly look to Nella for leadership, firmly establishing her as mistress of the house. For example, Cornelia nominates Nella to tell Johannes about Rezeki as she perceives Nella as “strong.” Marin asks her sister-in-law to deal with the St. George Militia, trusting Nella’s capabilities above her own. In the face of adversity, Nella displays her inner strength through problem-solving. It is she who warns Johannes to escape before Frans reports him to the burgomasters. It is also Nella’s idea to attempt to sell the sugar.
