Emily Buchanan is a miniatures hobbyist with a love of constructing and furnishing dollhouses. After assembling her newest project, she finds herself at a standstill. Losing interest and motivation, she realizes that what used to be fun has become a chore.

All this changes with the arrival of a mysterious package on her doorstep, its outside label reading: “Your Perfect Store for Dollhouse Décor.” Opening the package, she finds a charming trompe l'oeil wallpaper mural depicting a library with tall bookcases and, beyond it, a series of rooms and open doorways.

Soon after Emily glues the mural on the living room wall, the dollhouse begins to take on a life of its own. Random sounds of movement within the house are the first indicators that something is amiss. Books from the wallpaper come to life in miniature form. Perhaps most puzzling are the field notes found in the dollhouse library.

These papers are dusty and worn, but the handwriting on the outside cover is unmistakable: The Private Papers of Edward Jeffries: Observations of the Fairy Kingdom. After studying them, Emily comes to wonder whether magic is responsible for the strange alterations in the dollhouse.

An especially troubling event occurs at Emily’s home during a meeting of the local Miniaturist Society. While viewing the dollhouse foyer, one of the club members finds a miniature handwritten note under the door, which reads, “This is Musa. May I please come in?”

For Emily, this is a call to action. In response to the inexplicable changes in her dollhouse, she begins a fascinating voyage into the kingdom of the fae.