Birdie Goodbain, last of the House's daughters, thought only the dolls were watching...

Raised in her family's dollhouse museum, Birdie grew up surrounded by models of perfect daughters that she could never be, haunted by a father who refused to accept her and a mother who wouldn't protect her. Birdie fled and didn't look back.

A home, a girlfriend, a job-a summons to the House she left behind.

After ten years, Birdie returns to her mother's welcoming arms, but something has changed in the centuries-old family home. Strange dogs hide in the foundations, her bedroom door locks on its own, her father won't leave the basement-and something new and terrible lurks behind her mother's eyes. She knows that she should leave, but eyes far older than the dolls' have been watching her.

The House allowed Birdie to escape once. It refuses to let her shame the family again.