It follows four separate characters as they discover and explore a mysterious city accessed only at night.

The novel follows four travelers: Oleg, a New York City locksmith; November, a beekeeper; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and Sei, a train ticket-taker.

They have all lost something important in their life: a wife, lover, sister, or direction.

They find themselves in Palimpsest after each sleeps with someone who has a tattooed map of a section of the city on their body.

Valente wrote The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making as a crowdfunded project; in October 2009, she announced that it, as well as a sequel, had been picked up by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.