Author: Audrey Burges
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Genre: Fantasy, General Fiction, Modern & Contemporary
Year of release: 2023
Release Date 28/02/23
AUS RPP $34.99
Rating 🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
Once upon a time, there was a house . . .Â
From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old recluse Myra Malone blogs about a miniature mansion – a dolls’ house – which captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra’s stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of the Mansion rooms and swap theories about the enigmatic author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by a strange magic she can’t understand – rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.
Across the country, Alex Rakes, the thirty-four-year-old heir of a custom furniture business, encounters two Mansion fans trying to recreate a room. 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
Parkhurst, Arizona, 2015 Thirty- four- year- old Myra Malone is a recluse who spends her time in her bedroom and the attic, blogging about her treasured miniature mansion; a doll’s house left to Myra by her step-grandmother Trixie, whilst Myra may avoid the outside world thanks to her agoraphobia the outside world, however, is captivated by her blog about a dolls hose The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone each post leaving the worldwide audience wanting more.  A closer glimpse into the mansion just a peek into those tiny rooms, in the tiny house they’ve all read so much will do!  Readers also have a growing curiosity when it comes to Myra Malone herself, just who is this woman that brings this house to life?Â
Lockhart, Virginia, 2015 Thirty-four- year old Alex Rakes a reluctant heir to a custom furniture business, finds himself aiding two women in the shop trying to recreate a room they’ve seen on the website for The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone upon closer inspection Alex is amazed to see the image on the screen before him is one from his own life the only difference is everything on the screen is, in fact, miniature, those miniature images happen to be his house, a house that has been handed down in his family by his mysterious grandmother who disappeared when he was just a child.
Alex goes in search of answers to find answers to his growing list of questions it doesn’t take long before he’s in contact with Myra Malone the owner of this miniature mansion, the two strangers begin to unlock the secrets the mansion holds it doesn’t take long for the pair to discover they are entwined in more ways than one; their two words are set to collide bought together by loss but defined by love.
When it comes to The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone, I was instantly taken by this mansion that has magic woven into the walls, along with tiny furniture that appears and disappears without warning an absolute original concept for a novel this reviewer simply couldn’t wait to dive in.
A unique and clever story with a dash of romance and magical- realism to boot! There is so many things to celebrate in a book that champions the little things in life, the bond Myra has with her maternal grandparents is heart-warming as for the mansion….. it’s hard not to get swept up in your imagination when reading about all the different rooms the mansion has to offer.
“We can’t always choose the details of our burden. But we bear it just the same.”
― Audrey Burges, The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone
Minuscule might be in the title but there is a large amount of story to discover when reading this novel at times it began to fill like a large undertaking to keep going as the plot at times felt like it slowed considerably thus making it a much slower read than I originally anticipated; I believe this is my reason for the high three-star-rating.
Author Audrey Burges has crafted quite the list of three-dimensional- characters to bring her debut novel to life, however, I will admit sadly whilst they were developed, I wasn’t able to connect to them as much as I had hoped for in the beginning of this novel. I am still struggling to place a character and their role in the book months later or perhaps I am not mistaken maybe I am simply overthinking it altogether. Magical realism indeed, but I won’t spoil it for you fellow reader.
Stand-out characters for this reader were maternal grandparents Lou and Trixie who made the biggest impact on this reviewer, their love and encouragement for Myra was infectious.
Personally, I struggled to keep the big reveal organised in my head during the conflict chapters it felt like there was too much detail making it all too easy for the reader to get lost in hence my delay in writing this review.
As some of you may already know I am a reader who likes to know all the ins and outs of a story, so I was saddened when reaching the conclusion that not all the minor characters endings felt developed enough for me, to feel as if the book was complete, this minor detail felt somewhat important to this reader as it felt as if they played a rather important role as the story progresses so it felt somewhat strange to leave them out altogether in the final pages in this reviewer’s opinion.Â
If you take something away from this review let it be this The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time! I have never read anything quite like it, I apologise if you found this review vague but as a reader, I believe I would be doing this story a great disservice if I was giving anything away, there is so much magic to discover in these pages.Â
There were some things I felt like I could see unfolding before the plotline revealed them but not absolutely everything, there were quite a few details still left for the reader to discover making it not as predictable as this reader originally thought in previous chapters.
If you enjoyed the novel Weyward by Emilia Hart (2023) I recommend The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges is a book you should investigate further.
What sub plots are included in The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone include:
- Agoraphobia
- Anxiety
- Family drama
- Grief
- Loneliness
- Loss
- Love
- grief
- Isolation
- PTSD
- Personal growth
- Distorted body image- scaring
The tropes in The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone include:
- Female friendship
- Grief
- Loss
- Single Parent
- Secrets
- Family drama
- Older role model
- Death of a loved one
- Self-discovery
- Misunderstood relationship with one parent
The author touches upon sensitive issues with sensitivity and a great deal of care.
Magical Realism as a trope:
- Realistic setting- All magical realism novels take place in a real-world setting that is familiar to this reader.
- Magical elements- Magical elements that take place that do not occur in the real however they appear normal within the novel.
- Limited information- Authors deliberately leave the magic in their stories unexplained to normalise it as much as possible this reinforces it as part of everyday life for the characters.
An absolutely enchanting read, I think of this book often and wonder about Myra Malone and Alex Rakes often all in all a pleasant read for me; this reader looks forward to more books by this author in the future.Â
I recommend this book to a mature audience; readers who are familiar with Magical Realism, Modern and Contemporary fiction should consider this book, perfect for the final days of winter.
With Continued thanks to Pan Macmillan and author Audrey Burges for sending a physical copy of this title to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.