The Doll Factory

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What to expect

This audiobook is read by Tuppence Middleton and includes an exclusive interview with Elizabeth Macneal.

Now a major TV series with Paramount+
Sunday Times Bestseller – BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick – BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime

The intoxicating story of one woman's dreams of freedom in Victorian England and the man whose obsession threatens to destroy them forever . . .

'A sharp, scary tale of love, art and obsession' – Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

London. 1850. On a crowded street, the dollmaker Iris Whittle meets the artist Louis Frost. Louis is a painter who yearns to have his work displayed in the Royal Academy, and he is desperate for Iris to be his model. Iris agrees, on the condition that he teaches her to paint.

Dreaming of freedom, Iris throws herself into a new life of art and love, unaware that she has caught the eye of a second man. Silas Reed is a curiosity collector, enchanted by the strange and beautiful. After seeing Iris at the site of the Great Exhibition he finds he cannot forget her.

As Iris's world expands, Silas's obsession grows. And it is only a matter of time before they meet again . . .

'A dark delight and fans of The Miniaturist and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock will love it' - Red

Sunday Times Best Paperback of 2020 Pick – soon to be made into a major TV series!

Listeners love Elizabeth Macneal's The Doll Factory:

'Breathtaking' *****
'I couldn't put it down' *****
'Spellbinding' *****
'I never wanted it to end' *****
'A plot to stop your heart' *****

The Burial Plot, Elizabeth's latest cat-and-mouse thriller, is available to pre-order now!

Critics Review

A remarkable example of historical fiction . . . full of life, colour and intelligence
Sunday Times
Stunningly confident . . . thoroughly engrossing
Ian Rankin
One of this year's best debuts tells the story of Iris, an aspiring artist in 1850s London . . . A clever and gripping read
The Times
Fantastic - vivid, poignant, colourful, and elegantly horrifying
Bridget Collins, author of The Binding
Macneal is excellent on the tension between idealised women and the reality . . . The Doll Factory is a remarkably strong debut; clever and readable with flashes of wonderful, descriptive prose
The Times
Astounding . . . I recommend it wholeheartedly
Jo Whiley, BBC Radio 2 Book Club
This brilliant literary thriller gripped me from the opening page . . . a beautifully researched historical novel with a plot to stop your heart
Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and The Good People
This is a dark delight and fans of The Miniaturist and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock will love it
Red Magazine
There is hardly an aspect of Victorian London that Macneal has not mastered in her lush, evocative Gothic, which chronicles a sadistic taxidermist’s sinister obsession with an impoverished young painter . . . a harrowing and bewitching adventure
The New York Times Book Review
Vividly rendered . . . captivating . . . engrossing
Evening Standard
Bewitching and disturbing by turns, The Doll Factory is a glorious gothic romance
Laura Purcell, author of The Silent Companions
I’ve missed subway stops to finish a book, but this is the first time I almost missed a plane . . . a perfect blend of froth and substance . . . a fascinating portrait of a talented young woman trying to negotiate the impossible sexual standards of her era: To acquire the skills she needs, Iris must endure society’s approbation, and to enjoy the romance she craves, she must keep her talent subordinate to her lover’s . . . magical storytelling
Washington Post
I loved The Doll Factory from the very first page . . . an exquisite novel of obsession, delusion, resilience and love . . . breathtaking
AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs Bird
Magnificent . . . features an extraordinary, unforgettable cast of characters . . . you can't help but be entranced by this uniquely evocative and arresting story . . . the tension ramps up to a breathtaking climax . . . if you love books like The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, Tulip Fever and Perfume then add The Doll Factory to your reading list
Daily Express
A deliciously gothic concoction that abounds with energy and imagination, conjuring up 1850s London life in all its Dickensian glory. Macneal marries art, obsession and possession in a plot that gains momentum and leaves the reader breathless
Daily Mail
Brilliant . . . refreshingly original . . . beautifully orchestrated . . . fascinating
Andrew Taylor, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London and The American Boy
Astonishingly good . . . with and a plot that rattles like a speeding carriage to its thrilling conclusion. I couldn’t put it down. You won’t be able to either
Elizabeth Day, author of The Party
The summer's hottest author . . . at once a love story and a thriller . . . Iris is a fierce creation. She chafes against the Victorian constraints on her freedom, carves out her own space in the male art world
Sunday Times
Stunning . . . with an unbearably tense and chilling denouement that had me totally gripped
Sophie Mackintosh, Man Booker Prize longlisted author of The Water Cure
Elegantly plotted . . . compelling and chilling
The i
Exquisitely executed, well-researched and richly evocative . . . a fast-paced, inventive ride through the dirt and squalor of Victorian London
Mail on Sunday
Exquisite . . . authentic and suspenseful
Woman & Home
Pretty much everything you could want from a book set in Victorian London . . . terrific storytelling . . . Ever since the success of The Essex Serpent, there's been no shortage of good modern gothic novels. The Doll Factory might just be the best yet
Reader's Digest
One of the best books I’ve read in ages – heartbreaking and evocative . . . a perfectly structured and page-turning story of love and passion; crime and obsession . . . wonderful
Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing Girl
Remarkably assured and beautifully written . . . truly captivating
E C Fremantle, author of The Poison Bed
This dark, enchanting tale is beautifully written. We couldn't put it down
Take a Break
A brilliant literary thriller that you won't want to put down
Surrey Life
[A] gripping historical thriller . . . Macneal paints a masterpiece with her vivid descriptions, and the conclusion will have you racing to the end
Woman's Weekly
A vivid depiction of a morally dubious world, and a page-turning psychological thriller, with a truly compelling villain
Essie Fox, author of The Somnambulist
Gripping, artfully written . . . part love story, part gothic novel and leading up to a truly breathless conclusion, this book is destined to be one of the biggest titles of 2019
Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti
Darkly brilliant - The Collector meets Possession with added female power
Anna Mazzola, author of The Unseeing and The Story Keeper
Engrossing and atmospheric . . . I can practically see the TV version!
Adele Geras, author of The Ballet Class
A sharp, scary, gorgeously evocative tale of love, art and obsession
Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
In its evocation of the seething energy of 1850s London, its immersion in the detail of the 19th-century city’s everyday life and in its fascination with the macabre and the eccentric, Elizabeth Macneal’s debut novel does feel genuinely Dickensian. Add a keen exploration of the restrictions that were placed on women and the possessiveness of men, and you get a remarkable example of historical fiction . . . In Macneal’s novel, Iris is condemned to be imprisoned by men’s ideas of her . . . a story full of life, colour and intelligence
Sunday Times
The sort of book you want to read curled up by a fire while your fingers twitch to find out what happens next
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You
Macneal has a magpie's eye for whatever is bright and glittering, and she writes vividly
Scotsman
Memorable
Herald
Gripping
India Knight, Sunday Times
Emotionally and intellectually engaging, Elizabeth Macneal’s debut is a stunner . . . both a page-turning thriller and a thoughtful, moving exploration of what it meant to be a woman and an artist in the 19th century . . . perfectly paced and richly atmospheric . . . deeply moving . . . I literally couldn’t put it down for the final breathtakingly tense 70 pages . . . utterly gripping
Irish Times
Artistic and scientific progress are on the march - and yet, in the little alleyways and twittens off the great London streets, poverty, dirt and inconceivable hardship hold back huge numbers of their inhabitants. Albie, a small boy with a single tooth, dreams of hand-made dentures and rescuing his sister from a brothel; Silas, a taxidermist, dreams of showing his work in the Great Exhibition. Every character is painted with intense clarity, so that we look over their shoulders and through their eyes. Brilliant, terrifying, evocative, impossible to stop reading.
The Tablet
Brilliant, terrifying, evocative, impossible to stop reading
The Tablet
An atmospheric book that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading
Independent

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