The Miniaturist

Calmed by the need to calm

oblivious to the calls of shopkeepers

But this is Amsterdam—”
“Where the pendulum swings from God to a guilder.

The tightness of the swaddling,

a mix of awe and disgust

What was once, is now no longer

Jack is infinite in his capacity to surprise

his is Amsterdam, Hole-Face,” she says. “The best man wins.”

You need to marry a man who can keep a guilder in his purse,

“All maids are dangerous,” her mother had said, “but the city ones are worse