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 . . .
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When the streets are at their darkest and quietest, a girl settles at a small desk in the cellar of a doll maker's shop. A PAINTING
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(@picadorbooks, 2 May 2019, ebook, 384 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox, # POPSUGARReadingChallenge, a book set in Victorian times)
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This is a new author for me. The Doll Factory has been on my TBR list for ages because I've read some really good reviews. I'm so glad I finally got round to reading it. My copy only had 305 pages. I was impressed by how much happens across such scant pages. The book felt much, much longer. I liked the fact the chapters alternate from Iris and Silas's point of view which give insight into Silas's obsession with Iris and hint at dark acts he may have committed in the past. He is very creepy and under the delusion that Iris loves him as well and they are designed for each other when in reality she barely notices him. The book gets quite dark towards the end when Silas's obsession gets out of control. I loved this book.
