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Quote by Jessie Burton

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The Miniaturist

In this historical fiction, a newlywed woman moves to Amsterdam and discovers a series of miniature rooms that mirror her life in unsettling ways. The story delves into the complexities of marriage, the social hierarchy of the time, and the mysterious forces at play in her new home. more

Author

Jessie Burton
Jessie Burton

Jessie Burton is a British author born in 1982. Her works are known for historical novels and fictional stories, which have won her a wide audience. more

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“His father in law, who was as old as the century, had just retired and was living in a country house in Gelderland. He would be coming by car. Saskia called and suggested that he pick them up--then they could get coffee together first. A typical country dweller, he replied that he wouldn't be caught dead in Amsterdam; what did they think, that he wanted to be attacked by a gang of hippie Provos? He laughed as he said it, but he didn't come, though God knows he'd faced worse dangers in his life.”

DutchAmsterdamThe SixtiesGelderland
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“The evolution of Polak's ideas had a great deal to do with the fact that he was a Jew. Like Jews elsewhere, those in Amsterdam kept a low profile; they were predominantly workers, and so they were attracted to the socialist program of fairness and decency. But they were deeply repelled by the idea of revolution. They knew from centuries of experience which group would become the scapegoat if things turned out badly. Polak read widely and while in England was influenced by the Fabian Society, which promoted a moderate path between socialism and capitalism. He cofounded the Dutch diamond worker's union (whose members were overwhelmingly Jewish) and became its chairman. From that perch he was able to put his ideas into practice. He wanted not only decent housing for workers but something more: beauty, a genuinely good life.”

AmsterdamTrade UnionsHenri Polak
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“the smell of canals and cigarette smoke, all the people sitting outside the cafés drinking beer, saying their r's and g's in a way I'd never learn. I missed the future. Obviously I knew even before this recurrence that I'd never grow old with Augustus Waters. But thinking about Lidewij and her boyfriend, I felt robbed. I would probably never again see the ocean from thirty thousand feet above, so far up you can't make out the waves or any boats, so that the ocean is a great and endless monolith. I could imagine it. I could remember it. But I couldn't see it again, and it occurred to me that the voracious ambition of humans is never sated by dreams coming true, because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again. That is probably true even if you live to be ninety.”

LoveFutureAmsterdamThe Fault In Our StarsUnsated
Book:The Fault in Our Stars
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