Library of Lost Dollhouses Summary, Characters and Themes
Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper is a captivating novel that intertwines art, mystery, and family secrets across two timelines. The story follows two women, one from the 1950s and another in 2024, whose lives are unexpectedly linked by a series of intricately crafted dollhouses.
The first narrative explores the life of Cora Hale, a talented miniature artist in the 1950s, who builds dollhouses that serve as encrypted messages for the women who commission them. The second narrative follows Tildy Barrows, a museum curator in 2024, who stumbles upon a hidden room with these dollhouses, leading her to uncover long-buried secrets about her own family. The book delves into themes of memory, identity, and the complexities of uncovering hidden truths through art and personal discovery.
Summary
The novel unfolds through two parallel stories that span decades, with a central focus on art, secrets, and hidden histories. The first narrative is set in the 1950s, following Cora Hale, a skilled artist known for creating highly detailed and emotionally charged dollhouses.
These dollhouses are no ordinary toys but intricate works of art that capture the untold stories and struggles of the women who commission them. Cora, who works in a small, private studio, uses her talent to express the unspoken emotions and hidden aspects of her clients’ lives.
Each house she builds is more than just a miniature replica—it is a personal history in miniature form, carefully crafted with encoded messages that speak of pain, loss, betrayal, and hidden achievements. These dollhouses become a form of self-expression for the women who are often silenced in society, allowing them to reclaim their stories in a world that rarely listens to them.
The clients who approach Cora are often women dealing with quiet suffering—women whose lives are steeped in secrets that they cannot reveal to the outside world. These secrets are woven into the very fabric of the dollhouses, from the wallpaper to the furniture, hidden compartments, and delicate details.
One particular commission stands out to Cora—a woman from Arlington, Virginia, who requests a dollhouse that conceals a deeply personal and dark story in its design. As Cora works on this piece, she becomes more invested in the narrative it tells, recognizing that the dollhouse is a mirror of her own hidden sorrow and the pain she has kept buried for years.
While Cora is deeply committed to her work, she harbors her own secret—one that is far darker than any of the stories she encodes into the dollhouses. The depth of her personal anguish, tied to past choices and the life she left behind in New York, weighs heavily on her.
Her past includes a significant moral compromise she made in her youth, a secret art forgery that still haunts her. Despite her skill and recognition as an artist, Cora never fully comes to terms with this act, and the guilt continues to influence her work and relationships.
The second narrative picks up in 2024, where Tildy Barrows, the head curator at the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library, discovers a hidden room within the library containing two extraordinary dollhouses. One of the houses is a replica of the Hôtel LeFarge, the grand Parisian residence of the library’s founder, Belva LeFarge.
The other house, larger and more intricate, is shrouded in mystery. Tildy is struck by the sheer detail and craftsmanship of these dollhouses, which seem to be more than mere art objects.
She is particularly intrigued by the connection between these dollhouses and her own family history, as she notices a portrait of her late mother embedded in one of the houses.
As Tildy begins to investigate the dollhouses, she uncovers startling revelations about her mother’s past, a history that has been carefully hidden from her for years. The more Tildy learns, the more she realizes that the dollhouses may be the key to understanding the secret life her mother led—one that she had never known about.
This discovery prompts Tildy to dig deeper into the history of the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library and the mysterious figures behind the creation of the dollhouses.
The dollhouses, once thought of as artistic curiosities, become a means for Tildy to unravel her own identity. The story of her mother, which was kept secret for so long, slowly comes to light.
Tildy learns that her mother, Meg, had once been involved in a tragic and controversial event—an arson fire that claimed two lives, including that of a baby. As Tildy digs into the details, she uncovers conflicting reports and mysterious circumstances surrounding the fire, which has been shrouded in secrecy for decades.
Tildy is further shocked to learn that her mother had changed her name from Daisy Hart to Meg Leigh, fleeing from her past and starting a new life.
The more Tildy uncovers, the more she realizes that the dollhouses are intricately connected to her own family’s history. The investigation into these miniature works of art leads her to discover that the woman who created them, Cora Hale, had a deep, personal connection to her mother’s past.
Cora had known Meg, and the dollhouses themselves are filled with hidden clues and messages that speak to the untold stories of Tildy’s family. As Tildy becomes consumed by the mystery of the dollhouses, she begins to confront her own feelings about her mother, her family, and her own identity.
Through her quest to uncover the truth, Tildy learns about Cora’s own struggles and the painful choices she made in her life. Cora’s work as a miniature artist becomes not just a reflection of the women she helped but a way for her to deal with her own past, particularly her role in a forgery scandal that nearly destroyed her career.
Tildy’s search for answers culminates in a deep understanding of the ways in which the past never fully fades and how personal history shapes the present in ways no one could predict.
The novel concludes with Tildy’s realization that the answers to her mother’s mysterious past are intertwined with the legacy of Cora Hale and the dollhouses she created. As Tildy reconciles her personal and professional life, she comes to terms with the power of secrets, art, and the haunting presence of history.
The dollhouses, once seen as mere artifacts, become symbols of the stories and lives that are often hidden from the world, waiting to be discovered and understood. Tildy’s journey not only helps her unlock the mystery of her mother’s life but also offers a glimpse into the ways in which art can preserve and reveal the truths that others try to bury.
Characters
Tildy Barrows
Tildy Barrows is the main character in Library of Lost Dollhouses, whose life and journey through self-discovery intertwine deeply with the dollhouses and their mysterious creator. As the head curator of the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library, Tildy begins her journey as a person focused on the preservation of history and artifacts.
However, her world is upended when she discovers the hidden dollhouses, and the unveiling of their secrets becomes a personal quest. Tildy is driven by a desire to understand her mother’s past, especially when she uncovers links between her family and the dollhouses’ creator, Cora Hale.
Her investigation into her mother’s mysterious history uncovers painful truths, including the traumatic arson fire that she had been unaware of. As Tildy delves deeper into the dollhouses’ secrets, she finds herself grappling with the duality of her professional and personal identities.
Her emotional growth is mirrored in her decision to confront the past, embracing the complexities of her mother’s life while also learning to reconcile her own sense of self. By the end of the novel, Tildy is not just a curator of artifacts but a curator of her own family’s buried history, one that connects her with Cora Hale’s legacy.
Cora Hale
Cora Hale is a central character whose creative genius and emotional scars form the heart of the narrative. A skilled miniaturist, Cora’s life is shaped by her past, which she attempts to bury beneath layers of artifice.
During World War I, Cora finds herself at Roughmore Park, a convalescent home for war veterans, where she creates dollhouses as a means of healing and expressing her inner turmoil. Her most significant relationship is with Hugh Havilland, a wounded war veteran whose optimism contrasts with the trauma surrounding them.
Despite their growing emotional connection, Cora remains guarded due to past heartbreaks and unresolved guilt over her earlier life in New York, where she forged a famous painting. This act of forgery haunts her throughout her life, symbolizing her struggle to escape her past and make a name for herself as an artist.
Cora’s emotional journey is one of redemption and acceptance, as she works through the consequences of her past actions, particularly her art forgery, which has haunted her for years. The revelation of her past by Tildy later in the narrative forces both characters to confront uncomfortable truths and face the repercussions of their secrets.
Cora’s life embodies the themes of identity, guilt, and the complexity of redemption, and her creative work serves as both a metaphor for and a tool of her healing process.
Hugh Havilland
Hugh Havilland, a war veteran and skilled craftsman, plays a pivotal role in Cora Hale’s emotional journey. His introduction to the story as a wheelchair-bound soldier who forms a deep connection with Cora marks the beginning of their complex and tender relationship.
Although initially hesitant and emotionally scarred by his experiences during the war, Hugh becomes an essential figure in Cora’s life, providing both emotional support and a shared appreciation for the art of craftsmanship. Their relationship is complicated by unspoken feelings, with Cora, in particular, reluctant to embrace romance due to past heartbreaks.
Hugh, too, hesitates to open his heart, perhaps fearing the fragility of their connection. Despite this, their bond strengthens through their collaborative work on the dollhouse, where their shared creativity serves as both a form of therapy and a means of understanding each other.
Hugh’s relationship with Cora underscores themes of healing through art and the deep emotional connections formed through shared experiences. His personal journey is one of reconciliation, as he comes to terms with the physical and psychological scars of war, finding solace in Cora’s companionship and their shared artistic endeavors.
Meg (Tildy’s Mother)
Meg, Tildy Barrows’ mother, is a figure shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Tildy’s search for answers about her mother’s life reveals a hidden past, including a tragic event in which Meg was implicated in an arson fire that killed two people, including a child.
Meg’s decision to change her name and assume a new identity marks her desire to escape from the past, and her role in the tragedy has been a silent burden that Tildy never fully understood until much later. As Tildy uncovers more about her mother’s hidden life, she learns of the deep guilt and shame Meg carried throughout her life, which had a significant impact on their relationship.
Meg’s struggle with her past shapes Tildy’s own understanding of identity, loss, and the hidden legacies people carry with them. Through Tildy’s investigation, Meg’s life story is gradually revealed, allowing Tildy to reconcile with the mother she thought she knew, all while uncovering the powerful, often painful truths that had remained buried for years.
Belva LeFarge
Belva LeFarge, the founder of the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library, represents a figure of authority, legacy, and enigmatic history within the novel. Though much of the story centers on Tildy’s personal journey, Belva’s influence looms large in the background.
Her connection to the dollhouses becomes more apparent as Tildy discovers the hidden room containing them, sparking a series of revelations about the intertwined histories of the library and Cora Hale. Belva’s legacy is one of preservation and secrets, and her connection to Cora’s work—whether through her personal involvement or through the creation of the dollhouses themselves—adds layers of intrigue to the narrative.
Belva’s role in the story is one of subtle influence, guiding Tildy’s quest for answers, even though her own secrets and the depths of her involvement with Cora and the dollhouses remain unclear until Tildy uncovers them. In many ways, Belva symbolizes the hidden histories and untold stories that permeate the entire narrative, challenging Tildy to not only unearth the past but also to question the motivations behind the preservation of these stories.
Phyllis Mason
Phyllis Mason, the daughter of renowned aviatrix and author Joy Wolfe, plays a key role in Tildy’s investigation into the history of the dollhouses. When Phyllis reveals that her mother had commissioned a dollhouse from Cora Hale, Tildy realizes the extent of the connection between Cora’s art and her own family’s history.
Phyllis’s willingness to lend her mother’s dollhouse for the exhibit becomes a crucial piece of the puzzle for Tildy, as it prompts further exploration into the links between Cora’s work and the women she created dollhouses for. Phyllis’s presence adds another layer of depth to the narrative, offering insights into the personal connections between the dollhouse maker and the women whose lives she captured in miniature.
Through Phyllis, Tildy gains a deeper understanding of the motivations behind Cora’s creations and the way in which these miniatures served as a means of preserving the hidden lives of powerful women.
Themes
Secrets and the Burden of the Past
In Library of Lost Dollhouses, secrets play a central role in shaping the lives of the characters and their relationships with both the past and the present. Cora Hale, the dollhouse maker, constructs her miniature houses as a way to preserve the hidden lives of women who have faced betrayal, loss, or injustice.
These dollhouses, intricately designed with coded messages embedded within their walls, serve as both a sanctuary and a means of expressing the unspoken truth. For Cora, the act of creating these works is not only artistic but also a form of therapy, allowing her to channel her personal grief and hidden pain into these miniature worlds.
The dollhouses are not simply objects; they are filled with the unsaid stories of the women who commissioned them, each piece a coded testimony of their private struggles.
For Tildy Barrows, the secrets of the past are exposed when she discovers these dollhouses at the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library. Initially, the dollhouses represent an artistic mystery, but as Tildy delves deeper into their history, she uncovers a hidden connection to her own family, particularly to her mother’s mysterious past.
The secrets Tildy uncovers raise more questions than answers, forcing her to confront the uncomfortable truths that have been buried for years. As she investigates the dollhouses and their creator, Cora Hale, Tildy’s search for answers transforms into a personal journey of self-discovery, revealing the complexities of family history and the power of secrets in shaping individual identities.
The theme of secrets emphasizes the impact of the past on the present. Characters like Cora and Tildy find themselves trapped by the weight of hidden truths, which, although they may have been buried, continue to shape their lives.
The revelation of these secrets brings both personal growth and emotional turmoil, showing how the act of uncovering the truth can be both cathartic and painful. This theme explores the idea that the past, though it may be obscured or ignored, is never truly gone; it lingers, shaping the present and future in ways that characters are often unaware of until they confront it.
Identity and Self-Discovery
The search for personal identity is a significant theme in Library of Lost Dollhouses, particularly for the character of Tildy Barrows. Throughout the narrative, Tildy is forced to confront her understanding of who she is and how her past shapes her present.
Her discovery of the dollhouses and the realization that they may be linked to her mother’s hidden past serve as the catalyst for Tildy’s journey of self-discovery. As she learns more about the mysteries surrounding the dollhouses, Tildy uncovers long-buried family secrets, which challenge everything she thought she knew about her mother, her family, and even herself.
This theme of identity is also explored through Cora Hale, the artist behind the dollhouses. Cora’s life is defined by the many roles she has played: an artist, a lover, a forger, and a woman burdened by secrets.
Her identity is shaped by her choices, some of which she regrets, such as her involvement in art forgery. As Cora reflects on her past, she grapples with the person she has become versus the person she wishes she had been.
Her work, particularly the dollhouses, serves as a way to express the hidden parts of herself, allowing her to process the identity she has created for herself and the one she longs for.
The theme of identity is intertwined with the idea of memory. Tildy’s quest to understand her mother’s past is not just a search for truth but also a search for the truth of who she is.
The revelation of the dollhouses forces both Tildy and Cora to reassess their identities and confront the roles they have played in their respective families and societies. The story suggests that identity is fluid, shaped by both the choices one makes and the legacy one inherits.
In the end, both women must come to terms with their own stories, understanding that personal growth and self-acceptance are the keys to unlocking the truth of their lives.
Art, Memory, and Healing
In Library of Lost Dollhouses, art serves as both a medium for self-expression and a means of healing. Cora Hale’s work as a miniaturist is not just an artistic pursuit; it is a way for her to work through the trauma and guilt she feels about her past.
Each dollhouse she creates is a reflection of the lives of the women she encounters, and the intricate details within the houses are her way of preserving their stories. The act of crafting these miniature homes allows Cora to express emotions and experiences that cannot be put into words, providing a therapeutic outlet for her grief and loss.
For Cora, art is not just about beauty; it is a means of survival, a way to cope with the pain of her past and find a sense of purpose in a world that has left her broken.
Similarly, Tildy’s journey of uncovering the secrets of the dollhouses is itself a form of art and memory. As she explores the hidden room in the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library, she comes to understand that the dollhouses are more than just curiosities; they are pieces of living history, containing the memories and stories of women who have long since been forgotten.
Tildy’s quest to unravel the mystery of these dollhouses is, in a sense, her own act of creation—she is piecing together fragments of the past to form a coherent narrative, a work of art in its own right. In the process, she begins to heal from the emotional wounds caused by her own family’s secrets.
The theme of art as a tool for healing underscores the transformative power of creativity. Cora’s dollhouses, although filled with hidden meanings, are also symbols of resilience and strength.
They offer a glimpse into the lives of women who found ways to survive, to express themselves, and to assert their identities in a world that often marginalized them. The healing power of art is not just a personal journey for Cora but also a collective one, as the dollhouses provide solace for the women who commissioned them.
Through their stories, both Cora and Tildy learn that art, memory, and the courage to face the past are essential for emotional healing and personal growth.