Susan Swingler is the step-daughter of one of Australia's most revered writers - the English-born Elizabeth Jolley. But behind that simple statement is a lifetime of family lies and deceptions that started when Susan's father, Leonard Jolley, left behind his life in England - his marriage and four-year-old Susan - to make a new life in Australia with Elizabeth. Susan had no inkling of what really happened until she came across perplexing revelations at the age of 21.

The House of Fiction tells the story of Susan's quest to discover the truth about her father. As she traces clues to a better understanding of Leonard, she inadvertently unravels an intricate fiction created by Elizabeth to deceive Leonard's family back in England.