The Library of Lost Dollhouses

A Novel

By: Elise Hooper

Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Caroline Hewitt

"This beautiful page-turner kept me reading all night.” —Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library

"This one’s an absolute gem.” —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

When a young librarian discovers hidden historic dollhouses in her library, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century’s worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy’s life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before-seen dollhouses.

After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque Paris, a group of scarred World War I veterans in the English countryside, and Walt Disney’s bustling Burbank studio in the 1950s. As Tildy unravels the mystery, she finds not only inspiring, hidden history, but also a future for herself—and an astonishing familial revelation.

Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women.

Very well written.

I was drawn in by the characters. The story is a unique telling of one’s past experiences. Keeps you coming back!

It should have been tagged a lgbtq novel.

I loved the premise, dollhouse, miniatures,mystery, but really didn't need the whole relationship twist. It took away from the story. This type of novel needs to be tagged as such.

Intrigue

Just a little bit slow and sometimes hard to follow the mix of two timelines. Overall, tho, an enjoyable listen since I actually make dollhouses myself.

Hmm?

So many questions.. why the vegetarian diatribe? Useless to the storyline. The author seemed to need to get something off her chest. Lots of loose storylines threads left undone. It felt like she just got tired of telling the story and quit.

Amazing storytelling with a fun twist

As a dollhouse miniatures maker, I had to listen to the book for the dollhouses and came away in love with the actual story! It’s a really fun listen for anyone who likes a good mystery, libraries, and imagination.