Jessie Burton frustrated ‘strong women’ still considered a novelty in fiction

Waterstones book of the year-winner surprised at emphasis on female characters in her debut work The Miniaturist

Jessie Burton, whose debut novel The Miniaturist was named Waterstones book of the year on Monday, has spoken of her frustration that “strong women” are still considered a novelty in fiction.

Burton’s gripping and delicately woven tale of 17th-century Amsterdam is one of the most successful novels of the year. It fought off competition from Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century to win the bookseller’s award.

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