Several scenes that took place in Amsterdam, like the Canals and the church, were actually shot in the Dutch city of Leiden. Amsterdam was considered to be too modern, whereas in Leiden the buildings were mostly preserved in their original state.
Both Anya Taylor-Joy and Romola Garai have starred as title character, Emma in film adaptations of Jane Austen's "Emma". Romola Garai stared in BBC's 2009 mini-series and Anya Taylor-Joy starred in the 2020 film.
Burton came up with the idea while on holiday in Amsterdam, where she viewed Petronella Oortman's doll house at the Rijksmuseum, and undertook extensive research on 17th-century Amsterdam, studying books, cookbooks, Dutch Golden Age paintings, maps, and wills.
The book is set in Amsterdam in 1686-87, the novel was inspired by Petronella Oortman's doll's house on display at the Rijksmuseum. It does not otherwise attempt to be a biographical novel.
The novel The Miniaturist sparked a bidding war between 11 publishers at the London Book Fair in 2013 and was released to huge critical acclaim, selling over 1 million copies in 37 countries.