Once upon a time there was a little girl called Jean Hamilton who lived in St. Louis, Missouri. She had grandparents living in Chicago who loved her very much, and when she visited them, her grandmother would take her to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the Thorne Miniature rooms.

There, she would gaze in endless fascination at the intricate reproductions of ornate European and American interiors. One in particular was her favourite: the replica of a room at Malmaison, the home of famed French emperor, Napolean Bonaparte, and his first wife, Josephine. Jean loved the rich furnishings, the paintings, the authentic dolls that "lived" there, and especially a green marble hallway with white wallpaper.

Her fascination with Malmaison and miniatures eventually extended to learning all about Napoleon himself, and she was also overjoyed when her beloved grandmother gave her her collection of Napoleonic postcards.

Although, as a grown-up, Jean Hamilton married Richard Pearman and moved to Bermuda, her fascination for these French subjects never left her. Over the years, she and her husband visited Malmaison, as well as the palaces of Versailles and Fontainbleu, many times.

One day in 1990 Mrs. Pearman, who had also enjoyed many happy childhood hours playing with her dollhouse, discovered the perfect antidote to what she calls her "obsession" with miniatures and Napoleon: she commissioned British miniaturists Kevin and Susan Mulvaney to recreate a perfect replica of Malmaison in dollhouse form, sending the couple to France to see and photograph the chateau and its rooms as aides memoires.

The Mulvaneys' meticulous and faithful attention to detail, including real wood parquet flooring, crown moulding, and intricately painted walls, meant that the project took almost two years to complete, but when the dollhouse finally arrived in Bermuda, Mrs. Peaman was ecstatic, for it exceeded her wildest expectations.

No less meticulous herself, she then set about acquiring the equally authentic "occupants" and furnishings of the period. She found a renowned miniature dollmaker in America, and commissioned a look-alike Napoleon and Josephine, right down to the hems of their tiny garments. Similarly, a British miniaturist furniture maker was commissioned to make replicas of items at Malmaison in France, including Napoleon's bed, his and hers armchairs, and more.

Countless forays into antique and other shops, primarily abroad, together with gifts from ever-watchful friends on their travels, have resulted in an amazingly authentic collection of furnishings in the replica Malmaison, including children's toys, silver cheval mirror and handbag, log box, and luggage.

The tiniest of electric chandeliers and wall sconces help to illuminate the rooms, and miniature needlepoint rugs with the signature Napoleonic bee adorn the floors. Cleverly, some of the postcards given to her by her grandmother all those years ago, including the famed Davide painting, `Napoleon Crossing the Alps', are now framed and hanging on the walls.

"I have slowly had one piece of Napoleon and Josephine's real furniture copied each year in England, but I still have a long way to go," Mrs. Pearman says. "Nobody else in the world has anything like this because I went to Memphis when the real furniture was on tour and got the catalogue of the show."

No matter, the Napoleonic dollhouse is already a work of art which delights all who have seen it, including craftsmen and artisans.

In fact, it was the latter's fascination with the Mulvaney's work that convinced Mr. Pearman it wasn't just a "female" thing, and he has become an avid supporter of (and accoutrements hunter for) his wife.

The dollhouse has been featured on the cover of the UK House & Gardens magazine, and yesterday achieved more fame as Mrs. Pearman launched her beautiful children's book, `My Malmaison: A Dollhouse Fantasy', in the chic Madison Avenue Bookshop, where representatives of the New York Times and Women's Wear Daily publications, among others, munched on specially-commissioned replica Malmaison cookies.

On Sunday, December 15 she will be signing copies of her book at the upmarket department store, Bergdorf Goodman, where the book is also being sold.

The first-time author's book spins a charming tale of Hortense and Eug?ne, the children of Martinique-born Josephine, who arrive at Malmaison to be reunited with their mother and stepfather.

Their search for their mother takes them through the rooms of the chateau and into its gardens, accompanied by their mischievous pug, Fortun?, where they discover many things, before a rapturous reunion and happy surprise ending.

The book is self-published, and of a very high quality. Its two-part front cover is a Dana Hyde photograph of the Malmaison dollhouse.

When the flaps are opened the broader pages on the left contain the English text, which is beautifully illustrated with Miss Hyde's photographs of its interior rooms, each of which relates to the location in the chateau where the children are in the story.

On the right-hand side is a miniature book of the matching text in French, which was translated by Mrs. Riquette Bonne-Smith, director of the Bermuda International Language Institute.

This ingenious device allows children who speak one language to learn the other at the same time, should they wish. At the back of the book on stiff paper are colour paper dolls of the central characters in the book which can be cut out and played with.

While the tale itself is charming, the author says it also has a hidden message.

"It is a little bit about manners. I try to get in a few little old-fashioned morals too."

The desire to write the book came about because Mrs. Pearman reached an age where she wanted to "do something creative" which could be worked on wherever she was, because she and her retired husband travel a great deal.

She also has eleven grandchildren, one of whom is a special-needs child, so she wanted to publish a book, the proceeds of which would help to establish a special school for children with special needs.

Like many aspiring authors, Mrs. Pearman thought it would be, well, child's play to write a book for kiddies. However, watching the reactions of her grandchildren as she read them the initial draft soon set her straight, so she simply took a writing course by correspondence, and consulted with the Institute of Children's Literature, and voil?! she was on a much higher road.

Nonetheless, her husband, as editor, wielded a very careful blue pencil until finally the text passed muster.

Others who helped immeasurably on what has become a beautiful product were several close friends, including professional photographer Dana Hyde.

When all was done, the author set off to find a publisher. To her dismay, the first two turned her down flat, contending that today's young readers want comics, space-invader and similar tales, and anything to do with doll houses was distinctly pass?.

Undaunted, the neophyte author approached the Madison Avenue Book Shop, who leapt at the opportunity to market it.

"It's the best bookshop in New York - the `in' spot," Mrs. Pearman says.

Next month she will go back to her roots for a book signing in St. Louis, followed by another in Aspen, Colorado, where the Aspen News has already written about it.

Through her friend, Mrs. Susie Pewter, founder of The Neverland Foundation, a registered charity for children of Bermuda who are infected with the HIV virus, or affected due to the loss of their parents as a result of the disease, the book is being launched locally this Saturday evening at a cocktail reception preceding the Foundation's charity auction.

It can be also purchased during the auction preview from tomorrow through Saturday between 9.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. at The Waterfront property, 96 Pitts Bay Road, near Miles Market entrance.

"Thereafter, the book is going to be sold in the National Trust gift shop on Front Street from November 25," Mrs. Pearman says. Again, all proceeds will go to children with special needs.

`My Malmaison' is dedicated to her daughter Gigi, a resident of New York City with a special-needs child. It will retail for $29.95 per copy, with all proceeds going to a school for special needs children.

"My daughter is trying to start a new school in New York City for children with special needs because at present they are bussed out of the city every day to Long Island. That's 90 minutes a day, so they don't get any exercise," Mrs. Pearman says.

As for the future of the dollhouse, some day her two granddaughters will inherit the masterpiece.

"I always said that I wanted my granddaughters to have a dollhouse, because mine gave me so much pleasure as a child, and Gigi also had a dollhouse.

"Now, after nine grandsons in a row, we finally have two girls. Fortunately, they are in the same family," she laughs.

Reflecting on her first book, Mrs. Pearman says, "I am very excited about it. It is amazing how long it takes to do a book, but it was well worth it, and now I want to do two more, featuring two famous French chateaux: Versailles and Fontainbleu."