133 | Tea and Tattle with Elizabeth Macneal - a podcast by Miranda Mills

This Tuesday on Tea & Tattle Podcast, I’m joined by the ceramicist and author, Elizabeth Macneal, to chat about her Sunday Times bestselling book, The Doll Factory, which is a brilliant novel about love, obsession, art and freedom in Victorian London. The Doll Factory met with tremendous success when it was first published last year, and the paperback edition has just been published, so I was delighted when Elizabeth agreed to come on Tea & Tattle to celebrate the paperback release.

The Doll Factory tells the story of Iris, a young woman who paints china doll heads hour after hour in a shop in London, but yearns to escape her life of drudgery and become an artist. A twist of fate introduces Iris to Louis Frost, a fictional member of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and Iris agrees to model for Louis on the condition that he teaches her how to paint. 

Catapulted into a new life filled with creativity, romance and a chance at independence, Iris is oblivious to a threatening figure who hovers in the background, observing her actions. Silas Reed is a taxidermist who wavers dangerously between reality and delusion. After a brief encounter with Iris, he develops an all-consuming passion for her, and as his mind gradually unravels, aspects of his past life are revealed that show that Silas has the power to put an end to all of Iris’s hopes and ambitions. In order to escape his carefully laid trap, Iris must use the utmost of her strength and courage to break free.

The Doll Factory is a captivating read with brilliantly drawn characters, and I had a wonderful time chatting to Elizabeth about truth and delusion, the male gaze in art and Victorian society, female ambition and so much more.

Read the show notes: teaandtattlepodcast.com/home/teareads32

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