Jessie Burton


Jessica Kathryn Burton is an English author and actress., she has published four novels, The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Restless Girls, and The Confession. The Muse has been published in 38 languages. The first two were Sunday Times no.1 best-sellers, New York Times best-sellers, and Radio 4's Books at Bedtime. Her short stories have been published in Harpers Bazaar US and Stylist.
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.

Early life and career

Burton studied at Lady Margaret School, Brasenose College, Oxford, and the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Burton's work in theatre includes The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other at the National Theatre, London in 2008. As well as working as an author and actress, Burton has worked as a personal assistant in the City of London.
she has two cats, called Margot and Rafael.

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. The Miniaturist took over four years to write. It was the subject of a bidding war at the April 2013 London Book Fair.
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. It was nominated for the 2016 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards.
Burton's first novel for children, The Restless Girls, was published in September 2018. The story is based on the Brothers Grimm tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. As of February 2018, she is working on her second novel for children.
Her third novel for adults, The Confession, was published in 2019.

Awards and honours