"It’s a thrilling moment to see it".
The Miniaturist author Jessie Burton has spoken about how thrilled she was to see her bestselling book adapted for the small screen.
Set in Amsterdam in 1686, Jessie Burton’s writing debut is a period novel about a young woman who marries a rich merchant.
Nella Oortman’s new husband gives her a wedding gift of a miniature replica of their house as she enters a world of secrets and mystery.
Burton said: “I wrote the book from 2009 and I didn’t really expect anything to happen, you don’t really when you write a book, you just hope at least one might person might be interested in it, so it’s kind of overwhelming.
“It’s a thrilling moment to see it.”
The novelist revealed that when she was younger she wrote to the BBC asking for them to adapt a book she liked.
She said having the channel adapt a book of her own years later was a “dream come true”.
Burton did not want to get too involved with the script, saying: “I was quite keen to let them get on with it, I like being left to get on with my thing, so I let other people do their bit.”
She added: “I think the scripts are wonderful … every time I got sent something, I was like, ‘Yeah, great, fine’.”
The brand new drama debut had managed to hit 3 million viewers upon its first airing on Boxing day, with its opposing drama Little Women managing to hit 3.6 million on first air.
The two-part drama will air again tonight on Wednesday December 27 on BBC1.
