The Doll Factory - Elizabeth Macneal
About the book
Elizabeth Macneal’s first novel The Doll Factory, has been translated into 29 languages. It is a Sunday Times bestseller, a Radio 2 Book Club pick, a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and a Waterstones Book of the Month.
In 1850s London, 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 . . .
About the author
Elizabeth Macneal is an author and ceramicist and works from a small studio at the bottom of her garden in East London. She has written two novels The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders which is set to be published in May 2021. Elizabeth was chosen as one of The Observers “hottest-tipped debut novelists of 2019”.
Discover more about the book and author
Visit Elizabeth Macneal’s website.
Listen to this “In Conversation” with Elizabeth Macneal on BBC sounds.
Watch this Waterstones Q&A with Elizabeth.