The Doll Factory

''When the streets are at the darkest and quitest, a girl settles at a small desk in the cellar of a dollmaker's shop. A bald china head sits in front of her and watches her with a vacant stare. She squeezes red and white watercolours on to an oyster shell, sucks the end of her brush, and adjusts the looking glass before her. The candle hisses. The girl narrows her eyes at the black paper.''

London, 1850. As the great metropolis is preparing for an illustrious event, three characters discover their lives are unexpectedly, irrevocably interconnected. A young woman, gifted with talent and bravery, tries to escape a life of tyranny and follow her vocation. A painter, member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, searches for inspiration and a place in the Great Exhibition. A shady collector, who lives in his own world of make-believe, searches for the next item to be displayed. In the streets of a city where darkness and light take part in a daily battle, a story of obsession and darkness unfolds...

...this exquisite novel has entered my personal Historical Fiction pantheon. Because it is perfect.

Elizabeth Macneal uses the theme of Art to comment on how perceptions and make-believe can alter a person's life. Within the London society, the belly of the beast, young women are forced either to bow to their families' notion of identity or rebel and end up in a lice-infested brother or the poorhouse. No one cares whether they are gifted with extraordinary talent, no one listens to their wishes. In a society that vilifies the poor and worships the corrupted nobility, appearance and a problematic idea of respectability is everything. Iris has to rebel against the family and decides to follow the changing era that hesitantly begins to make a difference. The universe of Art isn't free of its own prejudices and stereotypes but, if nothing else, it provides a kind of freedom that women are not allowed in the ‘‘respectable'' part of a society that cannot face the facts.

When a novel is set in London, the city becomes a character. I will use the phrase ‘‘a Dickens of our times'' because Macneal's pen raises London out of the pages and the capital comes alive in front of our eyes. Silas's devilish presence echoes the dangers that can be found in any era, in any city. The psychopath, the evil, the threat that appears when you least expect it. Lies, insecurity, battling against the world of men, everything is necessary when you find the chance to escape a life dictated by others.

''I am not some ladies.''

Iris is the heart of this striking story, a character of her time without becoming a caricature of the boring pseudo-feisty heroine that is only a period copycat of the same-old, same-old novels. Her spirit and her honesty, her determination and resilience are characteristics of a protagonist you can root for. Unless you are narrow-minded in which case this book is not for you...

There is definite darkness in the novel, a Gothic mystery, a horror story that requires a strong mind. I adore the concept of taxidermy, it fascinates me to no end and Macneal uses it to perfection to create a powerful atmosphere that turns you into an observer who has to witness everything, unable to react, to warn or rescue. You just stand there, in awe, hoping. Hope is never far away, even in the corners of a dark, dirty, violent city that gives and takes, nourishes and kills.

The Doll Factory is one of those novels that I call ‘‘brave reads''. It is purely Victorian, an accurate and acute study of the era and the themes of womanhood and self-preservation, of freedom and strength. Yes, it is violent. Of course it is, the era requires it, life itself requires it and the finest stories are not created out of silly happiness, pink clouds and cliches. The stories that endure are born out of the human soul and its incredible, inexplicable depth. Humans suffer, animals suffer in ‘‘real'' life. Why should books be any different when they are the mirrors of societies over the centuries?

If you are a brave reader who demands complex and confident stories, The Doll Factory is one of the finest Historical Fiction novels you'll ever read.

''Dead, dead, all dead.''

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

+the atmosphere and writing are so beautiful
+historical detail
+quirky places
+Albie, Silas, PRB
+gorgeous cover
-the switching narrative didn't work that well
-the lovestory
-pacing
3,5*

So I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try something new.
The new thing was the Doll Factory. Thriller/suspense, not something I usually read.
I got to admit the first part of the book is alright, but the last few pages had me on my toes.

I listened to this one with a friend of mine. While I loved the setting and the narrator, this was extremely slow and boring for about 75% of the book.

Even the last few chapters, while finally having something happen, wasn't all that exciting.

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway, but my opinions are my own. Stop me, ladies, if you've heard this before...A man meets a woman briefly, and feels entitled to her love. A man meets a woman briefly, projects on her a personality that is nothing like she is in actuality, and then gets angry when he finds out she is her own person, with thoughts, ambitions, and dreams of her own.. A man meets a woman and doesn't take no for an answer. A woman expresses concern over the behavior of a man to another man, and the man she confides in doesn't take her seriously. The Doll Factory is about the way when capture women, mold them to their fantasies and desires, assumes of them some fantasy, expects of them not to be fully fleshed out humans. It's set in the Victorian era, and makes me think of [b:The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper 37570548 The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Hallie Rubenhold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519263139l/37570548.SY75.jpg 59148767]. Those real women have also been objectified, simplified, and discarded. They too felt the constraints of polite society, and limited choices. Highly recommended. It was fun to look of the artwork mentioned throughout the book, and I could have kept going and researching, easily Googled and Wiki'd for weeks.I do have to mention there's a lot of animal cruelty in the book, which is a tough thing for me, but I believed it served a purpose, and I did skim the a few paragraphs.

I enjoyed how Elizabeth Macneal explored the different character's motivations and imbued each page with a simultaneous sense of wonderous optimism and despairing revulsion. I really felt drawn into the character's world. Despite the Victorian setting, the main character Iris was relatable, quite modern in her desire to follow her own path and explore the world of colour and art. She somehow remained ladylike but spirited. Usually in Victorian type novels the heroine is either completely rebellious and wild or prim and proper. Iris seemed to be “normal” in that you could easily picture her walking down the streets of London and not obviously pick her out as a fictional character.

This was a gripping tale from the start to finish. The use of metaphor was sublime. I look forward to perusing Elizabeth Macneal's future works.

Spoiler-Free Review:

This is entirely my own fault. I imagine this books is great of you enjoy horror and gothic fiction, as what little I read showed a beautiful writing style and vivid imagery. Unfortunately, I didn't realise this was horror-based, I thought it was going to be closer to a thriller mixed with gothic fiction, so unfortunately this book is not for me. However, it could easily be for you .

Trigger warnings for the book: Animal cruelty

Spoiler

Spoiler Review:

I think this book may need an age rating or some kind of trigger warnings perhaps as I was fully expecting to read a book about obsession and stalking with some gothic twists and features, however I realised in the first chapter I wasn't going to get that when taxidermy was the focus point. I knew where the plot was going to go from there, but I did flick ahead in the book and skim read to double check.

Unfortunately, what was going to happen with taxidermy is too much for me too stomach personally.

It did however raise some important questions to me as to whether or not we should be included trigger warnings and age ratings on book cover. I know many of you would argue the genres of middle, YA, NA and adult already do this - but I don't think it does them well enough. Each of those genres are diverse and there are subsections of each that can make it hard to navigate.

You can read my discussion about trigger warnings and age ratings on my blog: https://moonlitbooks.home.blog/2020/04/17/botm20march/

Review to come