To Lydia Matthews and Diana Parker, who have read everything I’ve written for the last decade, and encouraged me through every setback. To Lucy Clarke, Alessandra Crawford, Elizabeth Day, Chris McQuitty, Julia Murday, Ed Parry-Smith, Emma Sharp, Nayela Wickramasuriya and Elizabeth Wignall for guidance and cheering pep-talks, particularly in early drafts of this novel. I am lucky to call you my friends.
To my English teachers: Paul Cheetham, Pippa Donald, Rob Harrison, Joe McKee and Betty Thompson. To Fiona Stafford, my tutor at Somerville College, who nurtured my love of Victorian fiction, and encouraged me to write my undergraduate thesis on clutter in 1850s literature, which first sparked my interest in collectors, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Great Exhibition.
To everyone at UEA who supported me, pushed me, taught me. To my tutors Giles Foden, Philip Langeskov, Laura Joyce, Rebecca Stott and especially Joe Dunthorne; and to the workshop group which read the opening chapters of this novel and told me to keep writing.
To the Malcolm Bradbury and Ian Watt foundations, whose scholarships gave me time to write. To the Caledonia Novel Award and Wendy Bough, for the most wonderful news at a crucial time, for introducing me to my agent, and for the subsequent support and friendship.
To Josh Bennett, Terry Blundell, Dan Reeve and Viktor Wynd for expertise on topics ranging from medieval romance to taxidermy to oil painting. Any errors are my own.
And:
To everyone in my family. To my Aunty Dinah, the best of road-trip companions, who will always tell it how it is. To my brothers and sister, Peter, Hector and Laura, for years of love and rivalry and fun. To my Grandma and Grandpa, Enid and Arthur Bourne, who were proud of me before I’d achieved anything, who taught me so much. I always promised you my first novel, and I wish we could have shared this. I miss you.
To Jonny. For everything.
To my parents, who have always encouraged me to reach beyond what I thought I was capable, who hugged me when I failed, and then told me to try again. For reading and loving every word I ever sent you (however terrible), and for always, always being there. Thank you.
The Doll Factory
‘A sharp, scary, gorgeously evocative tale of love, art and obsession’
Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
‘A stunningly confident first novel with a real sense of period and place . . . thoroughly engrossing’
Ian Rankin
‘I loved The Doll Factory from the very first page and couldn’t do anything else until I’d read right to the end. An exquisite novel of obsession, delusion, resilience and love, Elizabeth Macneal really is a breathtaking new talent’
AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs Bird
‘This brilliant literary thriller gripped me from the opening page . . . The Doll Factory conjures 1850s London in all its grime and glory, possibility and restriction in absorbing, immersive detail. Elizabeth Macneal has created that rare thing: a beautifully researched historical novel with a plot to stop your heart’
Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and The Good People
‘One of the best books I’ve read in ages – heartbreaking and evocative . . . a perfectly structured and page-turning story of love and passion; crime and obsession. A wonderful and intense novel. I loved it’
Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing Girl
‘The Doll Factory is brilliant, with a refreshingly original quality, beautifully orchestrated narrative, great characters and some fascinating background detail’
Andrew Taylor, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London and The American Boy
‘Fantastic – vivid, poignant, colourful, and elegantly horrifying’
Bridget Collins, author of The Binding
‘With strong echoes of John Fowles’ The Collector, The Doll Factory is at once a vivid depiction of a morally dubious world, and a page-turning psychological thriller, with a truly compelling villain’
Essie Fox, author of The Somnambulist
‘A stunning novel that twines together power, art, and obsession . . . the unbearably tense and chilling denouement that had me totally gripped’
Sophie Mackintosh, Man Booker Prize longlisted author of The Water Cure
‘The Doll Factory is darkly brilliant – The Collector meets Possession with added female power’
Anna Mazzola, author of The Unseeing and The Story Keeper
‘A gripping, artfully written historical novel with a highly contemporary sensibility . . . Part love story, part gothic novel and leading up to a truly breathless conclusion, this book is destined to be one of the biggest titles of 2019, deservedly so’
Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti
‘A remarkably assured and beautifully written debut, filled with sinister delights and intriguing themes of imprisonment and objectification. A truly captivating read’
E. C. Fremantle, author of The Poison Bed
‘Astonishingly good. The Doll Factory reminded me of The Crimson Petal and the White, Fingersmith and Vanity Fair but had a richness of tone that was uniquely its own. Macneal writes with utter mastery, creating a lushly intricate world peopled by living, breathing characters you can’t help but fall in love with and a plot that rattles like a speeding carriage to its thrilling conclusion. I couldn’t put it down. You won’t be able to either’
Elizabeth Day, author of The Party
‘Engrossing and atmospheric. Fascinating . . . I can practically see the TV version!’
Adele Geras, author of The Ballet Class
‘The sort of book you want to read curled up by a fire while your fingers twitch to find out what happens next’
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You
ELIZABETH MACNEAL was born in Edinburgh and now lives in East London. She is a writer and potter and works from a small studio at the bottom of her garden. She read English Literature at Oxford University, before working in the City for several years. In 2017, she completed the Creative Writing MA at UEA where she was awarded the Malcolm Bradbury scholarship. The Doll Factory, Elizabeth’s debut novel, won the Caledonia Novel Award 2018.
WWW.ELIZABETHMACNEAL.COM
First published 2019 by Picador
This electronic edition first published 2019 by Picador
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5290-0239-3
Copyright © Elizabeth Macneal 2019
Cover made by: Line Andersen
Cover photograph: Martin Andersen
Cover design: Katie Tooke
Author photo: Mat Smith
FICTION
The right of Elizabeth Macneal to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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