This is the first book I’ve read by author Elise Hooper, and I can safely say it will not be my last. Set in present-day San Francisco with flashbacks to pre-WWI to post-WWII, this book will have you intrigued from the first glimpse into the life of a mysterious dollhouse builder who hides little clues and secrets of the women who commission the remarkable miniatures she creates. (I won’t give you the dollhouse maker’s name, as you’ll learn it fairly early on in the book).
In the present day Tildy Barrows discovers two of the largest dollhouses in a secret room in the library that was once the home of Belva Curtis LeFarge, a wealthy American heiress who married into French aristocracy.
Before you pre-order your copy of The Library of Lost Dollhouses, check out this Q&A with author Elise Hooper.
When did you first come up with the storyline for The Library of Lost Dollhouses?
An old family dollhouse inspired me to write this book. When I was seven, I received a dollhouse for Christmas. It had been built in the late 1800s for my great grandmother and passed down to my grandmother, then my mother, then me. As a girl, I played with that dollhouse for hours and learned many creative skills—like sewing, knitting, painting, and basic woodworking—to make tiny furnishings for the dollhouse. It taught me to view at the world as a place of possibility, where anything could be adapted for the dollhouse. During that time I spent playing, I also learned how to tell stories, and this turned out to be a skill that shaped my interest in writing.
Decades later when I finished my fourth novel and was considering what to write next, I thought about how much my old dollhouse charted the course for my creative life and decided to write about it.
In your previous novels (The Other Alcott, Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific), the storylines have been centered around historical women who were overlooked during their lifetimes. The women in The Library of Lost Dollhouses are fictional, but they too have been overlooked during their lifetimes. What drives you to bring their lives through your books?
For as long as I’ve been studying history, I’ve been infuriated by how women’s lives vanish from so many official records, so it’s exciting that people are finally interested in learning more about these hidden histories. As a novelist, I love telling stories about women and their accomplishments as much as possible.
Of all of the women throughout history, who is someone you would have liked to have met in real life?
Can I pick one of my own fictional historical figures? I’d love to build a dollhouse with Cora Hale, one of the main characters in The Library of Lost Dollhouses.
Tell me about the research process for the book.
Of all my books, this one required the least amount of “traditional” historical research, meaning I didn’t need to sit down and read big books about world wars, the Great Depression, and other heavy topics, because world events remain in the background of this novel. Instead, I focused on “learning by doing” and I restored my great grandmother’s dollhouse to understand the work of a dollhouse maker and miniaturist. In fact, I discovered how much fun it is to work on dollhouses and it’s become quite an interest of mine! If you follow me on Instagram at @elisehooper, you can see my miniature adventures firsthand. In June I’ll be heading to a week-long school on the coast of Maine run by the International Guild of Miniaturist Artisans to learn more about making miniatures. I can’t wait!
I also learned about the history of dollhouses and the miniaturists who crafted them. I learned how women throughout Europe used dollhouses as status symbols to show off their wealth, and in Germany, young women used dollhouses to learn how to run a home. It wasn’t until mass manufacturing after World War II that dollhouses as toys became widespread.
After I discovered Frances Glessner Lee (1978-1962), a woman who built tiny dioramas of crime scenes to help train law enforcement agents, I knew the dollhouses in my story would also hold clues that would reveal the hidden truths about the women who had once owned them. I was also fascinated by how Walt Disney initially envisioned Disneyland as a traveling miniatures show and knew he’d need to be a figure in the book.
As I delved deeper and deeper into the history of dollhouses, I noticed that miniatures tend to grow in popularity during difficult times. For example, at the end of World War I Queen Mary commissioned a grand dollhouse from England’s leading artisans as a way of lifting the nation’s spirits. After the dollhouse was finished, over a million and half people showed up to see it exhibited. In the United States, the Art Institute of Chicago’s well-known Thorne Rooms and Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle were created and exhibited during the Great Depression to raise money for charitable causes. And then in 2020, while people were stuck in their homes during the pandemic, another flourishing of modern miniatures took hold once again and captured people’s imaginations on social media. I love this proof of how art plays an important and positive role in our lives.
Which storyline did you enjoy writing the most, Tildy’s or Cora’s?
I enjoyed learning about miniatures with Cora and traveling to Belle Epoque Paris, the English countryside, and to a variety of destinations throughout the United States. Tildy’s story was more challenging to write because it necessitated such care in peeling back the mystery and revealing plot points at the correct time.
Do you feel like you are more similar to Tildy or Cora?
I admire both characters and wish I had Tildy’s single-mindedness, but I can identify with Cora’s optimism and belief that art can save the day.
Which chapter/scene from the book was the hardest to write?
The entire process of writing a dual-timeline novel was tricky! I wish a single scene or chapter had been hard, but the whole book took a lot of time and effort. It was humbling to toggle back and forth between the stories to make sure everything lined up correctly.
I loved writing the scenes where Tildy met Ben and Cora met Hugh. I also loved the relationship between Cora and Belva and scenes with the two of them flowed easily in my imagination.
If you had commissioned Cora to build a dollhouse, would you have secrets you’d have her include in the dollhouse?
I’ve thought about this question a lot. While I don’t have a real secret in any of my dollhouses (I currently have 3 at the moment!), my great grandmother’s dollhouse has definitely has served a purpose I haven’t spoken publicly much about: my mother has Alzheimer’s Disease and the dollhouse is a source of great joy for her. Every time she sees the dollhouse or we talk about it, it animates her in a way that few things do these days.
Are you working on your next novel, and if so, can we get a sneak peek?
I’m currently at work on a novel set in 1950s Seattle, which is fun because this is the first time I’ve written about where I live. At the moment, that’s all I can say!
Elise Hooper | Photo credit: Chris Landry Photography
— About the Author —
Elise Hooper is an acclaimed novelist known for The Other Alcott, Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific, all of which center on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. With The Library of Lost Dollhouses, she continues to enchant readers with her ability to bring historical eras to vivid life while creating characters who linger in your heart long after the last page.
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