Turkish is her mother tongue and English is her third language, and she’s writing in English, and she was just amazing. I’ve just come back from seeing Elif Shafak and it was just incredible. What events have you been to see at the festival? I’ve done one event with the playwright Polly Stenham and I’ve got one on my own. JB: As a performer, yes, but I’ve been a couple of times before. We caught up with her backstage for a quick chat between events to see just what this extraordinary whirlwind of success has been like from the inside.ĬW: So, here we are at Hay! Is it your first time at the festival? The Miniaturist is a gorgeously written literary page-turner about 18-year-old Petronella Oortman, who, on her marriage to a wealthy merchant in 17 th-century Amsterdam, is presented with a lavish cabinet house (based on a very real one on display in the Rijksmuseum), which seems to echo the mysterious goings-on in her own strange new household.Īt the end of a year-long promotional tour that has taken her across America and Europe, Burton came to the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival to discuss how the novel came to be. Jessie Burton has achieved that rare thing: a runaway bestseller that has also been lauded by the critics, garnering awards including the Waterstone’s Book of the Year 2014 and the National Book Awards New Writer of the Year – and all with her debut novel.
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