Book reviews

Book review: The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal


Title: The Doll Factory

Author: Elizabeth Macneal

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Picador

Publication date: 2nd May 2019

My rating: ★ ★ ★

Summary:

London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment – forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love.

But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening . . .”

My review:

The Doll Factory takes place in 1850s London and narrates the touching story of Iris and Rose, two sisters stuck in a never ending cycle of misery. Written with flair and confidence, the beginning of the story sucked me in immediately and I was transported to a London so different to the one I know and eager to immerse myself in the dark and gothic setting.

Iris hopes for more than the shabby setting and poor working conditions of painting dolls and dreams of a faraway life filled with opportunities. The possibility of escape surfaces when she is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite painter Louis Foster who she bargains to model for in exchange for art lessons. This engrossing beginning outlined an array of possibilities for Iris who soon found herself detached from her sister and entered a world completely different to the one she knew. I found her journey through London while getting to know Louis a marvellous adventure and truly connected with her character.

Unfortunately towards the halfway mark certain events linked to Silas, a taxidermist infatuated with Iris, were enough to put me off and I skimmed through a large chunk of the book. Although the writing was sharp and articulate, the descriptions involving killing and stuffing animals were too distasteful and not to my liking. The connection between Silas and Iris was also too constrained and not a story arc I appreciated.

I loved the gothic and mysterious setting but was not expecting such a dark and twisted turn of events. The characterisation was powerful and the pace seemed right but by skipping through several parts I lost the momentum and this ultimately shaped the book to be an average read for me despite the strong start. The Doll Factory has the potential to charm many readers with its setting and storytelling and I would recommend it to fans of period features and lots of drama but it could be a difficult read for readers who don’t digest gory details well.

16 Comments

  • Jules_Writes

    I’ve just started this I’m only 30 pages in – I got it for a book club or I doubt I would have picked it up. Thanks for the warning about the animals – not sure it is something I want to read about either. Good review.

  • Marina_Books of Magic

    Great review Darina! I just bought this one recently, so it’s good to know some of those stuff, though I’m not put off by gory descriptions (Not that I love them either lol), but it’s good to hear the writing is good. 🙂 I also love your cover more, mine is just weird. xD

    • Darina

      Thanks, Marina! Which cover do you have? I bought the book on kindle but I didn’t realise it also has another cover! I hope you enjoy the book! 🙂

      • Marina_Books of Magic

        Mine is the Serbian edition so I don’t know where you could see it. xD It has a bird, a butterfly, and a rat on it, and a paint brush so it seems like the whole cover is painted on. Hopefully those images make sense when I read the book. xD

    • Darina

      Haha! There’s definitely no shame in that! Many disturbing books are very gripping, it’s a shame that this one didn’t quite work for me. Thanks, Inge!

  • Gilana @ gilreadsbooks

    Great review! Sorry to hear it didn’t work for you, but thanks for the heads-up on the gore. I usually like gothic books and can tolerate a little gore, but not by too much. Might still give this a shot. 🙂

    • Darina

      You might find that you like it so I would definitely give it a go. The gothic setting is really well done. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂

    • Darina

      Ah, yes I really don’t like it when important aspects like that aren’t even mentioned in ARC copies. I feel like it’s happening more and more lately!

  • Stephen Writes

    I gave this 4 stars because of the setting and the atmosphere/quality of the writing, but I agree with you about the direction the plot ended up taking. It did become quite unsettling. Great review, Darina!

    • Darina

      Thanks, Stephen! I agree that the setting and atmosphere were really solid but unfortunately the plot put me off so it became a 3 star read for me in the end.

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