The Doll Factory

A Sunday Times Bestseller, BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick and BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime. The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal is 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, gorgeously evocative 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 A Sunday Times Best Paperback of 2020 Pick, The Doll Factory will be made into a major TV series.