The Doll Factory

Author: Elizabeth MacNeal
Genre: Historical Fiction
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Atria Books
First Published: August 13, 2019
Opening Lines: "When the streets are at their darkest and quietest, a girl settles at a small desk in the cellar of a dollmaker's shop."

Book Description from GoodReads: The Doll Factory, the debut novel by Elizabeth Macneal, is an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession.

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 Rating: 2 stars

My Review: The Doll Factory is a chilling tale set in Victorian London that follows one woman and the delusional man who believes he loves her. In her debut, MacNeal vividly describes how brutal and harsh life was for people of much lesser means and shows the limitations and abuse many women faced at the time.

But ...

I struggled with this book. The story is predictable and when I stop to think about it, not much happens plot-wise. The build-up progresses at a sluggish pace, taking most of the book and when we finally get some tension, the big scene is over rather quickly followed by a quick ending. Slow go - then, BAM!, you're done! That's not satisfying.

There's the main story of Silas the creepy stalker but there are no smaller sub plots to keep things interesting unless you count the artist story line/romance which I found to be rather dull. There are also some cringeworthy, macabre descriptions of taxidermy and graphic animal cruelty scenes so reader, be warned.

With its historical fiction/suspense vibe in its blurb, I thought this book would be perfect for me, but it felt like the author was trying too hard. Graphic scenes felt placed for shock value when time should have been spent on a more detailed plot and better character development.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Atria Books for providing me with an advanced, complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.