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kiwikathleen 's review for:
The Doll Factory
by Elizabeth Macneal
I wasn't sure at the start, not being a great fan of historical fiction, but I ordered copies from the library of every book in BLK's June/July Book Pool challenge (apart from the 2 that the library didn't have), thinking that I'd get the book, have a look at it, and then decide whether to try it or not. I'll do the statistics at the end of the month but so far I'm pleased with this approach. For example, I got totally drawn into this book, which I probably would otherwise have passed on by. It's another set around the seedier side of Victorian London (I read [b:The Crimson Petal and the White|40200|The Crimson Petal and the White|Michel Faber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408937589l/40200._SY75_.jpg|1210026] at the end of last year), and another that surprised me.
I love the way MacNeal's fictional characters of Iris and Louis are written into the world of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (the publishers have an excellent article written about them by MacNeal - here). I've always been interested in art and in the lives of artists in the past, and this is thoroughly researched for this book. The lives of the urchin Albie (and his sister), and of Iris and Rose (apprenticed in the soul-destroying Mrs Salter's Doll Emporium) are also experienced fully by the reader. And then there's the obsessive Silas . . . (I was wondering if he was named after [b:Silas Marner|54539|Silas Marner|George Eliot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347323528l/54539._SY75_.jpg|3049535], which I've never read, but a quick look at the plot and I think not), and the Great Exhibition as an important facet in the plot. Fascinating stuff!
I love the way MacNeal's fictional characters of Iris and Louis are written into the world of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (the publishers have an excellent article written about them by MacNeal - here). I've always been interested in art and in the lives of artists in the past, and this is thoroughly researched for this book. The lives of the urchin Albie (and his sister), and of Iris and Rose (apprenticed in the soul-destroying Mrs Salter's Doll Emporium) are also experienced fully by the reader. And then there's the obsessive Silas . . . (I was wondering if he was named after [b:Silas Marner|54539|Silas Marner|George Eliot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347323528l/54539._SY75_.jpg|3049535], which I've never read, but a quick look at the plot and I think not), and the Great Exhibition as an important facet in the plot. Fascinating stuff!