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When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, 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 uneventful 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 starts to believe that Belva Curtis LeFarge, the influential heiress who established the library a century ago, is conveying a significant final message. With a newfound sense of spontaneity, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey to understand introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Epoque 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, overlooked history, but also a future for herself, filled with exciting possibilities--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 of the past.
About the author
A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting an MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel, The Other Alcott, was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. More novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Hooper now lives in Seattle with her husband and two teenage daughters.
Report
"Absolutely riveting. A stay-up-all night read." - Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author, on Angels of the Pacific
"[A] heart-stopping tale of courage and resilience." - Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author, on Angels of the Pacific
"Heroism, strong characters, and period dialogue shine in Hooper's latest." - Booklist, on Fast Girls
"Fast Girls is a high-speed romp...ambitious and heart-pounding...A gold medal read from Elise Hooper." - Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author
"Told in intricate detail, against the backdrop of a world on the brink of war, the novel shines a light on these long- overlooked athletes." - Real Simple, on Fast Girls
"Her adventures illuminate the world of intrepid female artists in the late 1800s, a milieu too little appreciated today.... The Other Alcott comes alive in its development of the relationship between Louisa and May." - New York Times Book Review on The Other Alcott
"Who would have guessed at the transformative secrets a long-forgotten dollhouse could hold? In Elise Hooper's wonderful The Library of Lost Dollhouses, librarian Tildy Burrows discovers two mysterious miniature realms. As she reassembles the pieces of the dollhouses' puzzle -- traversing an array of times and places to do so -- an unknown image of the past and the historic women inhabiting it begins to materialize before her. As Tildy solves the dollhouses' mysteries, she also answers long-standing questions about herself in this compelling tale." - Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Queens of Crime
"Fans of Kate Morton, Sarah Blake, and Fiona Davis will appreciate the novel's lush, atmospheric settings, interwoven narratives, and exploration of historical details. Hooper's heartwarming story explores the connections between memory and legacy as it shines a light on the often unseen and unappreciated labor of women in the arts." - Booklist
"Spellbinding...Constructing a narrative as finely detailed as these dollhouses, Hooper builds a world of brave women, complex artistry, and long-buried family secrets." - Shelf Awareness
"A captivating tale of miniatures and mysteries that highlights the tenacity and inventiveness of overlooked women throughout time.... Riveting, heartwarming and illuminatingly educational, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is exactly what the historical fiction genre was invented for. Hooper warmly invites us in by using the vehicle of dollhouses-a toy, in modern readers' minds-then completely upends all we thought we knew about history, artistry and, well, dollhouses." - Bookreporter.com
"Hooper's eye for detail and skillful storytelling shine once more in ...a gripping, satisfying read." - Heather Webb, USA Today bestselling author, on Angels of the Pacific
"Kinetic, mesmerizing, and terrifically entertaining...A wonderful novel." - Jennifer Robson, international bestselling author, on Fast Girls
"Elise Hooper's latest marvel takes readers on an enchanting journey from San Francisco to Paris, love to war, deception to redemption, as her main character-a little-known artist-moves out of the shadows into the limelight. This beautiful page-turner kept me reading all night." - Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library
