The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

 

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

Audrey Burges

Pub. date: Jan. 24, 2023 by Berkley

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷

Summary: A woman learns to expand the boundaries of her small world and let love inside it in this sparkling and unforgettable novel by Audrey Burges.

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-modeled 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.

My thoughts: This one was a solid three for me. It had a wonderful intergenerational tale and several adorable romantic plotlines. There was a bit to much unsaid when it came to explaining the mystery of Alex's grandmother. The way that Burges developed the character Trixie was delightful. I adored the short but everlasting relationship between Trixie and little Myra. Myra seemed to be a poster child for all who work at home, whether by choice or by circumstance. The revelations regarding her situation and how it impacted her family were somewhat expected but well done. This was a slow burner for me but I enjoyed it.