A unique and absorbing book, filled with a bit of magical realism while telling a story about love and family. Myra has not left her home for years, staying in the attic with her miniature mansion. Her step grandmother, Trixie, gifted the mansion to her, knowing she would eventually understand it’s purpose. Chapters alternate with Myra’s story and the story of Willa, who falls in love with Ford, with a love that is strong until he sets off for war. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but believe me, this book is wonderful. I loved it for its quirkiness and uniqueness. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

✨Magical Realism
✨Dual Timeline, Multi POV
✨Emotional with romance

I enjoyed this one! The mansion of miniatures that was so much more! Myra had been gifted this mansion and how to take care of it when she was small. This is a dual timeline between her and Willa and Ford's timeline. Willa lived in the real life version and it passed down through her family. I felt the magic, mystery, pain, love, and heartache in this book.
I would probably follow a mansion on a blog. Her single minded focus on this miniature house was so interesting to me. For someone who fixates and obsesses I could get lost in a project like that especially if it communicated and new furniture just appeared.

Thank you berkleypub and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

✨ Review ✨ The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges

I recently started building this teeny tiny book store filled with a ton of teeny tiny fake books and art prints and furniture, and so I was extra delighted to discover this new book about Myra Malone's mini mansion.

34 yo Myra spends most of her time in her attic styling her mini mansion she received from her step-grandma after she died from a terrible accident that her and 6-yo Myra were in. Myra's recently started a blog showcasing her mini mansion and her stories with the support of her best friend. Since Myra spends all her time at home inside (she hasn't left really since she was a kid), the blog is her connection to the outside world.

The story grows more complicated when she receives a message from Alex Rakes that her mini mansion matches his family's mansion down to the smallest details. From across the country, they begin communicating about these strange similarities. Weaving in a century of back story from Myra's youth and Alex's family, Burges brings us a lovely story of family, tradition, and an eerie sort of magic.

I really liked both the contemporary story of Myra and Alex, as well as the historic context provided. I loved the magical realism, and I loved the setting (especially after living in the high desert of Arizona in a similar natural setting to Myra. I loved the tiny furniture, and the reflections of family and loss and love. I think I wished for a bit more historical contextualization of some of the characters because some pieces still felt unclear at the end, but overall, I really enjoyed this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.25 stars)
Genre: magical realism / historical fiction
Location: remote Arizona / East Coast small town
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ magical realism
⭕️ tiny houses and furniture (explicitly NOT dollhouses lol)
⭕️ family drama
⭕️ multiple timelines (historical context + contemporary main story)

Thanks to Berkley (#berkleypartner) and #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Anyone else feel real lost from page one? Wish it worked for me.

This is fiction with a mix of magic and mystery.

It is based on an extremely interesting concept and would be great for fans of magical realism. Myra manages a blog based on miniature homes and Alex is stunned on seeing his family home/rooms exactly in Myra's miniature home. They both correspond to understand more about this weird similarity, there is some history and definitely something to do about magic! Their friendship develops along with their investigation and there are some beautiful words about family and self love. It was a charming and unique read!

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a rare book that captures your imagination from the very first page. In 2015 in the rural mountains of Arizona, Myra is a reclusive 34-year-old woman who dedicates her time to tending her miniature mansion. Her blog about it is her only real tether to the outer world, other than her close friend Gwen. Ever since the terrible accident that killed her step-grandmother and left lifelong scars on her body, Myra has closed herself off to nearly everything.

In Virginia, Alex is shocked to learn about this Minuscule Mansion… because it’s his house. And not just the layout of the rooms, but even the furniture and the bedspread and the artwork on the walls—it’s all what’s currently there. That’s creepy in and of itself. But even stranger is how his house and her mini house seem to be connected on a deeper, more magical level.

The story is told in alternating chapters that jump around in time. While the main events take place in 2015, we also get glimpses of Myra’s childhood in the 1980s, as well as a second story that follows Willa starting in the 1930s. Additionally, there are occasional chapters that serve slices of Myra’s blog, showing off her enchanting writing and storytelling.

One of the biggest themes in The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is the family drama in both Myra and Alex’s families. His grandmother, Willa, found a great love with Ford, but was never accepted into his family. Even their son, Rutherford, was hostile towards her. After losing Ford (in more ways than one), Willa was isolated in her mansion before she disappeared. Rutherford and his own son, Alex, have a similarly tenuous relationship, and it seems that the mansion is at the center of it.

There is a lot of magic in this novel, too, and not all of it is fully explained. What is the story behind Willa? How are the two versions of the mansion connected? It’s a bewitching tale of women, legacy, reputation, and home, and mixed into all of that is a real magic. Is it a haunting? A curse? Or something more rooted in love and nurturing?

The book is contemplative yet exciting, and I couldn’t stop talking to people about it over the days I was reading it. I loved seeing the magic come alive on the page and watching Myra slowly come out of her shell.

In some ways, The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a mystery. Some could say it’s a love story. Still others could call it a fairy tale, one that’s been updated for modern times. However you label it, this is an imaginative and enthralling book that is tender, meditative, and beautifully written. I look forward to reading more from Audrey Burges. Her second book, entitled A House Like an Accordion, is already on my list for 2024.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a well-written sure-fire hit—lively, stylish, and full of heart.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a magical and unique story.

This was one of those books I wasn’t entirely sure what I would get while reading it. The synopsis of this book is intriguing, and it was what made me want to give this book a try. I enjoyed it. It’s not my favourite read, but I love how different it was. It is slower-paced and does jump around a lot in terms of time and POV, which was a bit jarring at times. Now I am not always a fan of books that shift around a lot like this. It’s just one of my pet peeves when it comes to stories, which I think hindered my enjoyment of the book.

This story follows Myra, who lives a reclusive life in her family’s cabin. She spends most of her time working on designing and creating different decor for the rooms in the Mansion, which is this miniature dollhouse. Her friend Gwen decides to start a blog around the Mansion, which explodes in popularity. Through the blog, Myra meets Alex, who cannot believe that the rooms in the miniature Mansion are the same as the ones in his house. These two start talking, and a bond develops between them. This story is really enchanting and lovely. Audrey manages to bring elements from different genres to create this distinctive story. While reading this book, you get to experience romance, magical fantasy, and mystery. I loved how Audrey also touched on love, loss, friendship, and family themes. She showed readers how complicated these relationships can be and how they affect the direction our lives can go in.

I have mixed feelings about Myra. She is a hard character to warm up to. The wall she put around her makes it hard to connect with her, and I just had difficulty getting over that emotional distance she creates. The only time I connected with her was through her blog posts. They were well written and just embodied the magical realism within this book.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a heartfelt and magical read.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a enchanting read - from the very first page to the very end.

Myra Malone is a 34 year old recluse, taking care of a mini mansion (not a dollhouse!) that was gifted to her when she was 6 years old. Since then she has been careful and particular in her care for it. With the encouragement of her longtime friend, Myra starts a blog and writes about a room that was redecorated, etc., and reveals snippets of herself and her life in Arizona.

Rutherford Alexander Rakes III – aka Alex – helps his father run a furniture business, a very well-known business in Virginia. An innocent conversation, while selling furniture, finds Alex looking at Myra’s webpage… only that mini mansion resembles his real life home, right down to his bed spread.

As the connect, Alex and Myra travel a path that seems destined for them.

I adored this story and watching it unfold. Both Myra and Alex have unfortunate pasts that molded them to who they are today. They must learn to overcome the past to find a way forward into the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bekley Pub for the opportunity to read and review this story.

I don’t read fantasy much, nor stories with magical realism. Sometimes I like them, but more often than not, I shy away from them. The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone however, intrigued me. There’s just something about a dollhouse that captivates me. I also love the idea that 2 people could fall in love with one another without ever seeing each other’s faces and with only a miniature mansion linking them together. The magical realism in this story isn’t too much, which for me is a-okay. It provided the right amount of charm and mystery to hook the readers. The characters were flawed in their own ways but still rendered them lovable. I especially love the writing, which is part whimsical and part poetic IMHO. Reading this let me escape into another world and made me forget my own problems! And that for me is a mark of a great book!!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Happy Pub Day to such an incredibly unique novel! Myra is trapped in a small world. She doesn’t leave her house. She spends her day working on her minuscule mansion, NOT A DOLLHOUSE. I loved little houses growing up so much. I was definitely invested in where this story was going! I’m this story many people feel the same and Myra finds a niche community of people that become obsessed with what she does with her mansion. Her fans have been inspired to send little gifts for the mansion and even create Etsy stores. The minuscule mansion creates a definite esthetic.
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On the opposite side of the country Alex works for his family’s furniture business. When one day a customer comes in and introduces him accidentally to the Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone, he is shocked to realize his house matches this tiny house EXACTLY.
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This is parts family saga, parts love story and all magical. It’s a really strong story and it’s out today!
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Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a journey. Sometimes twisted and treacherous, sometimes smooth and full of wonder. Getting from point A to point B is disjointed and fluid all at once. It’s a timeline within a timeline which is fitting when you understand the mysteries of Myra’s magical house. The questions you have surrounding the past and present start from page one, and only seem to grow as you learn more. The story is Myra's-but Willa Rakes steals a large portion of the spotlight. Even though Willa's story is only told in the past tense chapters starting in 1937, learning about her life is integral to understanding the mansion that ties everyone together. Because she is of the mansion, and the mansion is a part of her. That probably doesn't make much sense. Then again, she was an enigma that even her closest loved ones never fully understood. My need to understand who she really was and how was connected to everything kept me turning the pages late into the night. It's been a long time since I've been so utterly invested in a story.

By the time Myra Malone was five, she knew more heartache and hardship than many see in a lifetime. She survived a shattering car accident that took her beloved step-grandmother Trixie from her. That same accident physically and emotionally altered her life forever, making her retreat into the safety of her home where she felt cushioned from the outside world. That world had taken so much from her and felt overwhelming in its vastness. So she took solace in the miniature house she inherited from Trixie. She decorated each room in the Minuscule Mansion with her hand crafted pieces of furniture and decor, but the house had a life of its own and it never seemed to want to stop changing. The was something inexplicably magical about how entire rooms would disappear, music played from within all on its own, and items appeared that she never placed there yet seemed to belong. She wasn't sure what it all meant, but she did know that it was her responsibility to protect those walls like the walls of her haven protected her.

I can't imagine going through life so completely isolated from everything the way Myra does. Lots of people like to stay "in their own little bubble" but she takes it to a whole other level. Gwen is her one friend whom she has known since she was a little girl, and that's only because Gwen demanded friendship and wouldn't take no for an answer. She's that blunt, no-nonsense, but loving friend that everyone wishes they had. While Myra tries to stay still and quiet and small, Gwen is the definition of constant motion and exuberance. Even with her bigger than life personality, she doesn't lack the patience needed to nudge her friend to try to enter the real world and start experiencing life from a more expanded perspective. She knows it's unhealthy to hide away the way she does, but she can only help her make changes in tiny increments. She convinces her to share her Minuscule Mansion with the world online. This eventually leads to life-changing events that Myra couldn't have anticipated, even in her wildest imaginings.

Alex Rakes discovers Myra's blog online and is completely floored when he realizes that her miniature house is a replica of his family's old, peculiar home. There was always something very strange about the house that his father despised and tried to keep him away from. The pain and tragedy that seemed to envelop his family through the years seemed to always come back to that house. Yet, Alex was always drawn to the mysterious place that people whispered about behind their hands. No one quite understood why the place felt off, which made it equally feared. Alex would have liked to have cracked the house open and shaken it until all of its secrets came tumbling out in the open. His family was comprised of a cold father, a grandmother that no one would talk about, a grandfather that came home from the war a ghost of himself, and a mother that left when he was a baby. He's known lots of sadness and loneliness, never feeling a close connection with anyone in his life. Until meeting Myra.

Their romance is sweet and more of a secondary plot, as it doesn't really kick in until the last 1/4 of the book. It doesn't feel too slow to appear or too instantaneous when it does. The two of them genuinely feel like soul mates who were just biding their time until they found their way to each other. Not just because of their ties to the mansion separately, from afar, but because they intrinsically "knew" one another sight unseen. Alex was so gentle with Myra, handling her fears with empathy and tenderness. You just want the two of them to finally be face-to-face so she can see that they are two parts of one whole. That she can fully trust that he is the only shelter her wounded heart needs. When circumstances force the two of them to face their greatest fears, will they finally have all of the answers that always eluded them and find peace?

This story was beautifully written, thoroughly captivating, and unlike any other book I've read. I adored it wholeheartedly and cannot stop daydreaming about that enchanting mansion and the secrets it held. This book brought me along on an adventure so grand I'm finding it hard to return from it. Those are the best kinds of books to read of course, so I'm not complaining.

It's a small world even within the walls of a mansion.

Myra Malone lives a solitude life with her mother, and in their attic she maintains a miniature mansion. This mansion is the inspiration for her wildly popular blog posts about each of its curated rooms and its furniture. This is NOT a dollhouse as their are no dolls living within its walls. This house was gifted to her after her step-grandmothers untimely passing.

Alex Rakes now lives in the ancestral home of his grandparents after being called back to help his ailing father. Everyday is a torture for him at the family furniture store, and he is relieved when he can step back inside the walls of the mansion which is a replica to Myra's down to its furnishing.

Connected through the internet, theses two begin a daily email conversation on their respective lives and the "how" they came into each of their cherished homes. The back and forth, from past to present, gives glimpses into the mansions residents and their connection to the tiny one in Myra's attic. Alex's grandparents mansion is the bane of his father's existence.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a magical realism slow burn. Its unique premise is a fresh, new approach on the quintessential romance book. Truly an enchanting story.

Thank you Berkley for the advance reader copy.

This book is so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I am new to the magical realism genre. I say if you enjoy this genre, pick up this book. If you don’t, pick up this book anyway because it is the perfect stepping stone to bringing this genre into your life. With characters I loved, a unique premise, and beautiful writing, this story sucked me in and wouldn’t let go!

This was an absolutely delightful story, completely original; I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The life of Myra Malone, a recluse of sorts in Arizona, revolves around her seemingly magical miniature mansion (never to be called a dollhouse) which she spends her days with and blogs about to a huge, adoring audience throughout the world. Across the continent, Alex Rakes works for his father's furniture business where he hears of Myra's website when people keep mentioning they want "Mansion style." When he sees the website, he is beyond shocked to see his own house passed to him by his grandmother, and his own bedroom with odd and eclectic items he has only recently acquired. And there they are in the Miniature Mansion, exactly the same. So he reaches out to Myra in an email to try to make sense of it all. And thus begins a very amazing and beautiful and emotional journey into the secrets of the past and the secrets of the twin houses with a great deal of love and magic along the way.
An absolutely splendid book, an emotional roller coaster ride that is well worth the trip. Highly, highly recommended.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a dazzlingly unique & magic realism filled fiction novel that is the perfect read to cozy up with on a cold day. This majestic novel is full of mystery, generational family tales of drama, tragic heartbreak & healing & interwoven with enchantment & romance mixed in.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone showcases the inherited minuscule mansion of Miss Myra Malone that may be more than meets the eye. With the nudging of Myra’s best friend, Myra shared her stunningly decorated (not a dollhouse) mansion & its’ stories with the Internet, which subsequently goes viral. One particular reader that discovers the mansion is Alex, who is shocked upon seeing the pictures of Myra’s mansion for they look disturbingly identical to his real life residence. An essay contest later, Myra & Alex begin a correspondence for the ages & the adventure that follows is an bewitching tale.

Right from the beginning, you are introduced to this enchanted world with its’ stylistic voice that can enrapture you under the spell. The author has such a unique voice that immediately jumped off the page & felt like a storybook being narrated in my head.

The alternating timelines were interesting, intriguing & informative as you gather the various stories through the years. I appreciated the most recent present of 2015 storylines the most. The past proved vital to the story, but I was most excited to return to the later years

Each story was like picking up an informative quilt square where eventually you receive enough sections, sew it together & create this beautiful piece of art.

I really appreciated how it came together, even though it was different than I expected. (I cannot put into words why this is though!) Overall, this felt like a warm cup of tea of a story.

Massive thanks to Berkley Publishing for the free arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

Trigger warnings: This book mentions &/or contains car accident, death of loved ones, injury, fire & suicide.

I’ve also submitted my review on Amazon, waiting for it to go live!

3.5 stars

A miniature mansion, a woman who lovingly crafts its tiny rooms and shares them on the internet for others to see, and a man on the other side of the country who is inexplicably finding photos of a dollhouse on the internet that portrays... his actual home?

Concept: ★★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★

Myra Malone lives in her home surrounded by the frozen time warp that is her life. At the age of five, she was in a devastating car accident—it killed her step-grandmother and left Myra traumatized and near death. Her recovery journey went from coping with some altered facial differences as a child to isolating herself inside as a homeschool student to being an adult wholly unable to leave her home.

In this very, very isolated and hermit-like existence, Myra has her Mansion.

Well, it's not a mansion. It's actually a very well-crafted large dollhouse, complete with dozens of furnished rooms, beautiful miniaturized fixtures, and a little extra something that Myra herself never questions. (If the rooms she creates react and adapt on their own, who's to say? Myra knows there's something a bit like magic happening under her nose, but she doesn't mind.)

Across the country, Alex works in his father's furniture store. His family is Virginian old money, and they have an old estate in the woods that his father hates and Alex loves. It's a true mansion in the Virginian woods, and it calls to Alex like some kind of magic. Furniture moves around when he's not looking, and every once in a while he can here music and voices.

Alex and Myra don't know it, but their worlds are about to collide.

Myra made an online blog about her miniature Mansion, and it developed a massive cult following despite her lack of interest—it was all her friend Gwen's idea, after all. But that cult following kept growing, and one day it reached the ears of Alex in Virginia.

Alex is stunned to discover that Myra's "Mansion" is... his house. And the bedroom she just took a photo of is... his bedroom. Done in miniature, of course, but it's his room. And that's his library, and that's his... and on.

Myra and Alex are about to uncover a lot of history and the magical ties that bind them together...

The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone was such an enchanting and original read. I was drawn to this story by its very unique title, but the ultimate thing that made me ask for an early reading copy was this concept of a magic dollhouse tied to a real mansion. What a fun twist on the magical house trope!

And, for those who come to this story for that reason, I think you're in for a similarly delightful read. Quaint, soft, yet overwhelmingly filled with heart and healing, this is a story that I think will find broad appeal in the soft fantasy, romance, light historical, and contemporary literature market. There's a dash of this, a dash of that...

At times too drawn out and at others too condensed, I did feel like this story included too much and yet also too little. This was a deceptively large concept hiding behind a small pitch line, and once you pulled on the first thread it all just collapsed into your metaphorical reader lap.

Something about this story that I did not expect were the multiple timelines throughout it. This is a multi-generational epic that spans over 100 years, with chapters of various points in time. Myra and Alex each have their own POV thread with chapters throughout the book, but interspersed continuously through that main story arc is a very dense historical narrative with some other characters. I wasn't expecting that in this story, and frankly I think it led me as reader to feeling too spread out between such a long time period and too many characters. My personal preference would have been to keep this story contemporary, with Myra and Alex, and let the past be the past. But take that with a grain of salt—I am not a historical fiction reader!

However, quibbles aside, I think this story will find its niche audience and bring out some joy and emotional healing to its readers.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Did you have a dollhouse as a kid?

I had one and I was very very into it. I loved all the miniature accouterments, especially the tiny foods. The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is the story of Myra, a recluse who lives her entire life working on her miniature mansion and Alex, a man who connects with her on account of the mansion (no spoilers!). And mixed in is the story of Alex’s grandma and her trials and tribulations. This book stole my heart. All of it. Myra has survived so much tragedy and channels her grief and recovery tending to the mansion and writing a blog about it with the help of her amazing best friend. The details of the mansion were perfection with a little touch of magical realism. Watching Myra find her footing and start to trust herself was beyond inspiring. She was just so likable and perfect even with all of her flaws and insecurities. I can go on and on about this unique, clever book.

“None of us chooses our burdens…but we bear them just the same.”

Thirty-four-year-old recluse Myra has grown accustomed to her predictably small life. Her only connection to the outside world is through her blog where she shares stories and photos of her beloved dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. That is until Alex Rakes, the scion of a custom furniture business comes hurtling into her life. After seeing photos of the Minuscule Mansion, Alex is shocked to recognize his house mirrored back to him on a miniature scale. Together, they trace the stories that entwine them, setting the stage for a meeting rooted in loss, but defined by love.

This was THE cutest and sweetest story with a touch of magical realism and a whole lot of love. I just adored it! The characters are so well developed and I was immediately and thoroughly engrossed in it.

My grandmother had an amazing (and HUGE) Victorian doll house when I was growing up, with all of the miniature items in it just like in Myra’s miniature mansion. I spent hours staring into that thing in awe of how realistic it was (think working lights and fireplaces!). Anyone who has ever had a special grandparent that shaped who they are, or a dollhouse they got lost in, or difficult family dynamics they spent their lives trying to navigate, this book is for you. Love love loved!

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This romance, family drama, witchy novel starts of a little slowly as the reader gets used to the shifts in time and place. Once the setting and characters are established the pace quickens as the reader needs to figure out the connection between all of these times, places, and characters. And the mansion(s) that are at the center of it all. Myra and Alex are characters that you root for to make that connection and overcome their early childhood traumas.