Jessie Burton

Jessie Burton
Jessie Burton, at Bloomsbury publishers, April 2018
Born	Jessica Kathryn Burton (1982-08-17) 17 August 1982 (age 42) London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Central School of Speech and Drama University of Oxford
Occupation(s)	Author, actress

Jessica Kathryn Burton (born 17 August 1982)^[1] is an English author; As of 2022^[update], she has published four novels, The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Confession, The House of Fortune and two books for children, The Restless Girls and Medusa. All four adult novels were Sunday Times best-sellers, with The Miniaturist, The Muse and The House of Fortune reaching no. 1, and both The Miniaturist and The Muse were New York Times best-sellers, and Radio 4's Books at Bedtime. Collectively her novels have been published in almost 40 languages.^[2] Her short stories have been published in Harpers Bazaar US and Stylist.^[3]

Burton is also a non-fiction writer. Her essays have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Vogue, Elle, Red, Grazia, Lonely Planet Traveller and The Spectator.^[3]

Early life and career

Burton grew up in Wimbledon, South London,^[4] her parents originally from Battersea.^[5] Burton attended Lady Margaret School in Fulham.^[6] She went on to graduate from Brasenose College, Oxford and the Central School of Speech and Drama.^[7]

A former stage actress, Burton's work in theatre includes The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other at the National Theatre, London in 2008.^[8] Having aimed to be "a successful stage actress", by the age of 28 she had stalled in this career, and "could see the writing on the wall - the dream to be the next Kate Winslet wasn’t going to happen. I never fell out of love with acting, it fell out of love with me"; difficulty in getting auditions meant she worked temp jobs, including as a personal assistant in the City of London.^[1][9]

Writing career

Burton's 2014 debut novel The Miniaturist is set in 17th-century Amsterdam. The novel is inspired by Petronella Oortman's dollhouse now at the Rijksmuseum, although it does not otherwise attempt to be a biographical novel.^[10] The Miniaturist took over four years to write. It was the subject of a bidding war at the April 2013 London Book Fair.^[11] It was adapted as a two-part miniseries for the BBC and PBS Masterpiece in 2017.

Burton's second novel, The Muse, was published in 2016 and is set in a dual time-frame, during the Spanish Civil War and 30 years later in 1960s London.^[12] It was nominated for the 2016 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards.^[13]

Burton's first novel for children, The Restless Girls, was published in September 2018.^[14] The story is based on the Brothers Grimm tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.^[15]

Her third novel for adults, The Confession, was published in 2019.^[16][17] Medusa, her second book for children, was published in 2021.^[18]

The House of Fortune, a sequel to The Miniaturist, was published in 2022.^[19]

Works

Adult novels

• The Miniaturist (Picador, 2014)
• The Muse (Picador, 2016)
• The Confession (Picador, 2019)
• The House of Fortune (Picador, 2022)

Children's books

• The Restless Girls (Bloomsbury, 2018)
• Medusa (Bloomsbury, 2021)
• Hidden Treasure (Bloomsbury, 2025)

Awards and recognitions

• 2014 Waterstones "Book of the Year" winner for The Miniaturist^[20]
• 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards: New Writer of the Year for The Miniaturist^[11]
• 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards: Book of the Year for The Miniaturist^[21]
• 2023 Carnegie Medal: Shortlisted for Medusa^[22]

References

1. Inside back cover of 2015 Picador UK paperback edition of The Miniaturist
2. "Home is where the heart is: Anita Sethi on Jessie Burton's books".
3. "Jessie Burton". Jessie Burton. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
4. Borciani, Chantal (26 October 2018). "Jessie Burton goes back to school". Time & Leisure. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
5. Colson, Thomas (7 July 2016). "My London: Jessie Burton". Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
6. Kellaway, Kate (26 June 2016). "Jessie Burton: 'Success can be as fracturing to your self as failure'". The Observer. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
7. Blackman, Jaines (28 March 2015). "Best-seller has been a life-changer for Jessie Burton". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
8. National Theatre : Productions : The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
9. "Jessie Burton's Move from Stage to Page".
10. Spiegelman, Ian (29 August 2014). "Jessie Burton on the dollhouse that inspired her novel". USA Today. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
11. "Jessie Burton: I never thought of The Miniaturist as ambitious". BBC News. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
12. Quinn, Anthony (25 June 2016). "The Muse by Jessie Burton". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
13. "Inaugural Books are My Bag Award Winners Announced". Foyles. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
14. "The Restless Girls". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
15. "THE RESTLESS GIRLS". Jessie Burton. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
16. Hickling, Alfred (21 September 2019). "The Confession by Jessie Burton review – an understated triumph". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
17. Rhodes, Emily (5 October 2019). "Jessie Burton's The Confession is, frankly, a bit heavy-handed". The Spectator. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
18. "Medusa".
19. Preston, Alex (5 July 2022). "The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton review – bold and thrilling sequel to The Miniaturist". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
20. Tim Masters (1 December 2014). "Miniaturist novel named Waterstones book of 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
21. "Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist voted Specsavers Book of the Year". BBC News. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
22. Shaffi, Sarah (17 March 2023). "Carnegie medal for writing announces all-female shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2023.

External links

• Official website