Doll maker

Nila Bertrand, an eighteen-year-old girl, steps into Amsterdam for the first time into her husband Johannes' house. At first glance, the atmosphere does not seem welcoming, as her husband's sister is strict, and the maid Cornelia is sarcastic and bolder than what Nila was used to in her home in the countryside of Asdelft. As for the servant Otto, he is a mystery, dark-skinned, with an Amsterdamian character. Whenever Nila tries to meet her husband, he slips away from her like mercury, citing his travels and work, but one day he surprises her with a wedding gift, a dollhouse that matches in description their grand luxurious home. Nila considers it mockery, but she decides to rebel and hire a dollmaker to furnish her new house. The sculptures begin to arrive, exactly as she requested with exquisite craftsmanship, but the matter does not stop there; it goes beyond the dollmaker and sends her sculptures she did not request, sculptures carrying messages and meaning, sculptures holding a black box of secrets of that mysterious house. The dollmaker is no longer just a craftsman, nor are his sculptures just dolls; he is a prophet, and those are his verses. Nila clings to him to save herself, but she finds her hands have grasped emptiness. Author: Jesse Burton Number of pages: 542 Inspired for publishing and distribution