Perhaps it was a sense of estrangement from the everyday that drew Cynthia Sorrel to the village of Cooper Patent. She was lured by the gatehouse with its seven doors, the lake with its tower, and the magical air of a place that couldn't quite decide whether it was fictional, mythic, or real. Soon she begins to pursue a figure in the woods near her house, convinced she has seen the Muse. As she moves deeper into this uncanny world, Cynthia finds herself at the heart of a labyrinth of mystery.