Tottie is a loving little wooden doll who lives with her family in a shoebox. The doll family is owned by two sisters, Emily and Charlotte, and they are very happy, except for one thing: they long for a proper home. To their delight, their wish comes true when Emily and Charlotte fix up a Victorian dolls' house just for them. But then a new arrival starts to wreak havoc in the dolls' house. For Marchpane might be a wonderfully beautiful doll, but she is also terribly cruel. And she always gets her own way.