The Miniaturists

“Reading Barbara Browning’s uncanny blending of confession, verbal performance, scholarship, essay, and fiction is to be in the presence of a discovering intelligence, one of remarkable commitment to investigation but also of compassionate awareness of the foibles of intellectual life. My admiration for The Miniaturists is unalloyed.” - Jonathan Lethem

“Frances Glessner Lee once solved crimes by making detailed miniatures of crime scenes, going so far as to knit tiny socks for her victims. In The Miniaturists, Barbara Browning channels Lee’s crafty attention to the minuscule, asking us what we perceive when we abide artfully by small things. Knitting together the histories of tiny creatures, handwriting, toy pianos, and quiet pandemic habits, Browning offers a celebration of microscales, wherein weblike connections appear everywhere and details become horizons of possibility.” - Julietta Singh, author of The Breaks

"An appealing collection of fresh, free-wheeling essays." - Kirkus

"The Miniaturists feels like more than just a book; it is a multi-layered project crafted into a deeply personal reading experience. The chapters are an engaging exploration of ‘the miniature’ as a concept throughout human history, and the author’s love for the esoteric will no doubt appeal to readers who enjoy learning for the sake of learning." - Rachel Denham-White, Limina