1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE LIBRARY OF LOST DOLLHOUSES
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
This is a dual-timeline novel about a mysterious collection of dollhouses that reveal the secrets of their former owners.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I picked some my favorites: San Francisco, Paris, and the English countryside (I’m a fan of Downton Abbey!)
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes, I’d love to build a dollhouse with her!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Creative, tenacious, and ambitious.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Owning a dollhouse isn’t just for kids.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I usually write a quick first draft from start to finish and then the editing begins.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Coffee ice cream. Oh, and Girl Scout cookies!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
My desk is next to my dollhouse and dog’s bed, so I always have company.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Louisa May Alcott because of her vivid imagination and drive to write.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Little Women because it inspired my first novel.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was walking up to the elementary school that my daughters attended when a phone call came from my agent. The Other Alcott had only on submission for a week, so I remember feeling initially worried that something was wrong. Fortunately, the call was a great one and I was thrilled!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I enjoy being absorbed by an engrossing historical mystery. For example, I loved The Christie Affair.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
15--What is your favorite season?
I’m a summer girl and am happiest at the beach.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I love to eat mud pie or strawberry shortcake while sitting outside on our patio with my beloveds.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I recently listened to the audiobook of Margot’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe and thoroughly enjoyed it.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai food.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Renovate old dollhouse and make miniatures.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
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! If you want more adventures in dollhousing, follow me on Instagram. 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!
Enchanting Fiction with a Historical Twist
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 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 sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque 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, hidden history, but also a future for herself—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.
Women's Fiction Friendship | Fiction Literary | Historical [William Morrow, On Sale: April 1, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780063427570 / eISBN: 9780063382152]
Although a New Englander by birth, Elise Hooper lives with her husband and two young daughters in Seattle, where she teaches history and literature.
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