Eight top reads about miniature worlds

Simon Garfield was born in London in 1960. He is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of non-fiction, including the bestsellers Mauve, Just My Type and On The Map. He is a trustee of Mass Observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries from the archive, including Our Hidden Lives and A Notable Woman. His study of AIDS in Britain, The End of Innocence, won the Somerset Maugham Prize, while To The Letter was one of the inspirations for the theatre shows Letters Live.

His most recent book is In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate The World.

At the Guardian, Garfield tagged eight favorite reads about miniature worlds, including:

Jessie Burton had a smash a few years ago with The Miniaturist, a novel both lush and precise, and wholly engulfing in its sense of place (Amsterdam, late 17th century). A woman’s life is mirrored in the tiny ornate objects in a beautiful doll’s house, which is also a model of her own home. Who is the mystery puppetmaster sending her these things, and will they set her free from her stifling marriage?

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue