A review by mat_tobin
The Dolls' House by Rumer Godden, Christian Birmingham

3.0

This is my first experience of reading Rumer Godden and it's a book very much set in its time with one, slightly surprising element which is a scene of death and loss in a book that I would argue is for quite young children. Although the death is that of a doll, this would not detract from the impact as the story itself revolves around the life of a small family of dolls who are owned and loved by two young sisters. This whole moment came as a shock to me and it was better for it.
Although you could argue that a story written shortly after the second world war about a family of dolls who are looked after by two girls is a little dated and twee, there is something powerful going on here with characterisation. Each doll is very much its own character: Mr Plantagenet ( nervous and with poor self esteem having been cared poorly by previous owners), Birdie(a little ditsy yet whose care for the family shows itself to be unparalleled), Apple (a little, adventurous boy who can be fickle at times), Tottie (the main character - small yet strong and caring and Marchpane (incredibly self-centred and vain). And because of this, I would argue that it's a fine story about humanity and what it is that makes us who we are.


Oliver Postgate adaptation