Intriguing, suspenseful, and beautifully written, The Doll Factory is a gripping and original gothic novel. There were many events that took me by surprise, or pushed against my expectations, and for that I am grateful. So often, novels such as this are formulaic and therefore fall short. I also appreciated how Iris’s life post-escape was explained through a newspaper review instead of the typical “happily ever after” variety. I’ll definitely be looking out for Macneal’s future works.
It is 1851, the year of The Great Exhibition in London. Iris, an aspiring artist, meets Louis Frost, a pre-Raphaelite artist, and agrees to become his model on the condition that he will teach her to paint. Iris had given a choice and she has snatched it. It is the beginning for a new life. Her world began to expand with a sense of freedom that she had never felt before. It’s a freedom that terrifies her, but at the same time, excited her.
But, while Iris lives her dream, discovering art and love, a random and brief encounter she immediately forgets, has other plans for her. Silas, a weird and collector of beautiful things, becomes obsessed and delusional about Iris’s feelings, until finally one night he goes through with his plan of kidnapping her and taking her away from her world so he can create one of his own. …
It is 1851, the year of The Great Exhibition in London. Iris, an aspiring artist, meets Louis Frost, a pre-Raphaelite artist, and agrees to become his model on the condition that he will teach her to paint. Iris had given a choice and she has snatched it. It is the beginning for a new life. Her world began to expand with a sense of freedom that she had never felt before. It’s a freedom that terrifies her, but at the same time, excited her.
But, while Iris lives her dream, discovering art and love, a random and brief encounter she immediately forgets, has other plans for her. Silas, a weird and collector of beautiful things, becomes obsessed and delusional about Iris’s feelings, until finally one night he goes through with his plan of kidnapping her and taking her away from her world so he can create one of his own.
The story is interesting and atmospheric and Macneal's writing, reminiscent of the Victorian era, overflown with a variety of vivid characters and portraits of difficult lives, drama and plot complications. Macneal’s prose is beautiful, and I particularly liked the depiction and the competitive relationship and animosity between Iris and her sister Rose. I was intrigued by Silas’s delusion and dark obsession. Albie, the street urchin who exists on the fringes of society, has been my favourite character in the book. But the development of the romantic relationship between Iris and Louis was rather predictable. At times the pace of the story was slow, too.
Overall, The Doll Factory is an interesting and well-written story of obsession and love. The story of a woman, who escapes a pitiful life of respectability and domestic virtue to find purpose and freedom in the wide world of Art.
