Dear Jessie Burton,

I'm not going to write a letter that makes an awful lot of sense today, and I apologise, but The Miniaturist is honestly the best book I have ever read and I don't say that very often.Never before have I read something so shocking and totally unexpected and I absolutely loved it.

Your book had intrigued me for such a long time before I actually got around to buying it, and I've never quite been sure why. The title especially; I had never heard anything of the sorts! What even was a 'miniaturist', I had no idea, but I was absolutely dying to find out. So as soon as I had some spare time on my hands, I began to read.

I have always been completely fascinated by the past, especially the history of other countries. So when I realised that your book was set in 17th century Amsterdam, I honestly thought I had found my dream novel. Due to this, I fell  completely in love with the story before I had even started reading it. I quickly became immersed into the story and became accustomed to the characters. But then, massive plot twist (I won't spoil anything, I promise), and I felt like the entire world I once knew had been turned upside down and I wasn't even half way through the novel. 

As the novel progressed, I never dared to trust it again. I was so unbelievably surprised by recent events that I found myself in the rare position of not having any idea whatsoever as to what was going to happen. Although I found this quite unnerving at first, it was really quite exhilarating. It was like no other novel I had read before.

The ending did not disappoint, thank goodness. To give you a slight hint, if you look really closely at the last pages of my copy of your book, there are ripples in the pages from where my tears landed. From that alone, I think you can see the effect that it had on me. So powerful... so unjust; it presented a difficult reality from that point in time that I had never really thought about before. 

I have so many questions that I wish I could ask you that I have asked myself, and Google, many times. I guess the answers may lie with Nella, Johannes and even yourself. But they are for another time. I wouldn't wish anyone to read your book if they knew the plot. It is, a completely beautiful surprise.

Signing off till next time,

Nin :-) x

To All the Writers

I wanted to write a letter to you, the creators; The creators of our fantasies. I simultaneously want to thank you and demand a thousand apologies, for you actually determine my thoughts, feelings and emotions for days after reading your works. I wanted to write a letter to you to try and explain your role from the point of view of a reader because sometimes, I don't even think you realise what power you hold over us readers.

Before I continue, I feel like I ought to explain the difference between someone who reads, and a reader. Someone who reads is a casual reader, they read as and when they want to and they don't become overly immersed in whatever they are reading. They could read a book one day and forget about it the next. Readers, on the other hand, are the ones you need to be careful with. Readers become so incredibly involved in the stories you are writing, it sometimes comes to a point when they cannot distinguish between a story and reality. The characters become their friends and family, and if something happens to them, like if something happened to their real family or friends, you can break them. I consider myself a reader, I also consider being a reader dangerous. 

Now when you, the creators, write a book, you are effectively playing God. You decide the fate of the characters, thus deciding the fate of the readers. You have so much power. I beg you to use it wisely. Make us laugh, make us cry, make us squeal with adoration, make us feel what the characters feel because we crave it. Don't get me wrong, I love being a broken reader, but only in the right way. Don't break us then leave us, break us then heal us. 

So, the purpose of this letter? I wish to ask you something. Do you think of your 'readers' before you publish anything? Do you think of how your work will make us feel? Whether we will smile, laugh, or sob in desperation? Does it matter to you  or does the thought of you having so much power completely amuse you? I have always wondered this because it is the one thing that stops me from making the jump from being a reader to a storyteller. Playing god terrifies me. Does it terrify you?

Signing off till next time,

Nin :-) x

Dear Mark Haddon,

Dear Mark Haddon,

Your book The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime has such a personal meaning to me. It really helped me to understand when I was sure that I never would. I am writing this letter to you to thank you for that because I wouldn't be the same person I am today without it.

Now before I go into details as to why I came about your book, I think I ought to give you some context. I have a younger brother called Angus. When he was two, he was diagnosed with severe autism; everyone told our family that he would never be able to talk or interact with others. Obviously, I was too young to understand at the time as I am only a year and a half older than him, so I just went about life knowing that he was different, but not fully understanding why and how.

I grew up with autism, it was, and still is part of day to day life. So, I guess you could say that I didn't know any different. Sticking to an exact routine everyday was normal for me. On reflection, I don't think that I realised how different my childhood had been until many years later. 

So, I came across your book and I could immediately see Christopher in my brother. I know that Christopher doesn't have it as severe as my brother does, and he seems to have Aspergers rather than autism (correct me if I'm wrong), but all the little things he does, like not liking 'chatting' were exactly the same! It enabled me to understand my brother more than I had ever before. I was able to see the world through his obviously confused eyes for just a second and it really gave me an insight into what life is like for him. It was so refreshing seeing someone talk about autism almost humorously, rather than portraying it as a condition. 

Many years later and I still love and read your book. We studied it in English class in year 9 (I obviously had a considerably large advantage) I even went to see the play in London last year. If anyone ever needed to understand why my brother, or anyone else with Aspergers or Autism for that matter, was different, I would always just refer them to your book. I hope it has helped others to understand as much as it helped me.

In short, your book made me feel like this :-)

Signing off till next time,

Nin :-) x