I got this lovely book as a surprise in the mail and I LOVED IT! This is a bit off genre for me, its a historical fiction novel and I LOVED it. Shocker, I know.
This is one of those novels that is going to be timeless. It takes place in the the 1800's and was a perfect mystery in historic London. You meet a plethora of different characters through this novel and get so deep into the world that you can't help but get consumed inside.
There was so much art strewn into this novel that is down so vividly that you can literally see it as you read, from the characters personas, to the actual art itself.
However, once we meet everyone, the books takes it twist with tinges of darkness and growing obsession from one of the characters. One the book took its dark turns I was absolutely hooked. I couldn't put it down. You know me, I love a good mystery and thrilling reads and this historical London gave me exactly that.
A great read if you love HF with a twist of mystery.
Synopsis:
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 . . .
