Book Review: The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

Mrs P

Jun 20

"Once upon a time, there was a house."

Audrey Burges ~ The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

Synopsis

From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old Myra Malone blogs about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra's stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of Mansion-modelled rooms, and swap theories about the enigmatic and reclusive author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by mysteries she can't understand — rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.

Across the country, Alex Rakes, the scion of a custom furniture business, encounters two Mansion fans trying to recreate a room. The pair show him the Minuscule Mansion, and Alex is shocked to recognize a reflection of his own life mirrored back to him in minute scale. The room is his own bedroom, and the Mansion is his family's home, handed down from the grandmother who disappeared mysteriously when Alex was a child. Searching for answers, Alex begins corresponding with Myra. Together, the two unwind the lonely paths of their twin worlds — big and small — and trace the stories that entwine them, setting the stage for a meeting rooted in loss, but defined by love.

Review

When I was 6 I received an Edwardian dolls house from Father Christmas. It remains one of my most cherished items and I can't wait to share it with my children. So when I heard about this book I was super excited to learn more about Myra's world and her miniature house.

It's an adorable story, as we learn of Myra's almost agoraphobia since a childhood accident, and how she finds comfort in the minuscule mansion that belonged to her step grandmother. She spends hours creating items and placing them in specific rooms; only she is allowed to do this. As someone who rarely let friends (and never my sister) play with my dolls house, I could completely relate to Myra's perspective. Mine was there for me to arrange, rearrange and use as an outlay for my imagination. It was not a toy.

Alex and Myra live in two completely different worlds, yet their relationship blooms in mysterious circumstances when they realise that her minuscule mansion mirrors his real-life home. This discreet magic adds surrealism and suspense to the story, but is never properly explained. The ending is reminisce of Jane Eyre or Rebecca, and is quite predictable and a sudden pace change to what is a slowly poetic book.

Due to the dual timelines, we never seem to get to know either of the main characters, although we do learn of their ancestors (although not the whys and wherefores); this makes it hard to relate to or like them, but their correspondence is believable, even though some of their behaviour is a little surprising.

Burges covers several important themes in her book, including obsessive behaviour, death and grief, but at its heart, this story is about hope. Those who feel lonely, or believe themselves better off alone can find love and happiness when they least expect it, even if they genuinely think they are unlovable and don't deserve it.

It does feel that the magical realism is an afterthought, with a few questions left unanswered, but overall this is a sweet story about allowing others to see you, support you and love you.