The Doll Factory

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway, but my opinions are my own. Stop me, ladies, if you've heard this before...A man meets a woman briefly, and feels entitled to her love. A man meets a woman briefly, projects on her a personality that is nothing like she is in actuality, and then gets angry when he finds out she is her own person, with thoughts, ambitions, and dreams of her own.. A man meets a woman and doesn't take no for an answer. A woman expresses concern over the behavior of a man to another man, and the man she confides in doesn't take her seriously. The Doll Factory is about the way when capture women, mold them to their fantasies and desires, assumes of them some fantasy, expects of them not to be fully fleshed out humans. It's set in the Victorian era, and makes me think of [b:The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper 37570548 The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Hallie Rubenhold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519263139l/37570548.SY75.jpg 59148767]. Those real women have also been objectified, simplified, and discarded. They too felt the constraints of polite society, and limited choices. Highly recommended. It was fun to look of the artwork mentioned throughout the book, and I could have kept going and researching, easily Googled and Wiki'd for weeks.I do have to mention there's a lot of animal cruelty in the book, which is a tough thing for me, but I believed it served a purpose, and I did skim the a few paragraphs.

I enjoyed how Elizabeth Macneal explored the different character's motivations and imbued each page with a simultaneous sense of wonderous optimism and despairing revulsion. I really felt drawn into the character's world. Despite the Victorian setting, the main character Iris was relatable, quite modern in her desire to follow her own path and explore the world of colour and art. She somehow remained ladylike but spirited. Usually in Victorian type novels the heroine is either completely rebellious and wild or prim and proper. Iris seemed to be “normal” in that you could easily picture her walking down the streets of London and not obviously pick her out as a fictional character.

This was a gripping tale from the start to finish. The use of metaphor was sublime. I look forward to perusing Elizabeth Macneal's future works.