Tag Archives: Pan Macmillan

The Doll Factory: Historical Fiction for the ‘Me Too’ Era

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‘The Doll Factory’, by Elizabeth Macneal, is published by Pan Macmillan.

I’ve never really considered myself the jealous type. And yet, yesterday – having finished the altogether best book I have read in possibly years – I found myself to be unequivocally, admittedly just that. Jealous. But, also awed, inspired and (isn’t it always so with a favourite book?) almost satisfied.

Because, well, this. This is the kind of book I’d want to write. Because it’s exactly the book I wanted to read.

We follow Iris: twin, shop girl, would-be artist. Dreaming of escape from the drudgery of working-class respectability she feels imprisoned in. Enter Louis, a spirited young painter who could offer just that. But is that all she has to contend with? Silas, a taxidermist with an obsession, has developed other ideas. It is a tale of possession, power and intrigue, with just the right measure of romantic relief.

Set in the possibilities of 1850, smack bang in the time of the Great Exhibition, The Doll Factory captures all of the aspects of Victorian London that we are most familiar with. The poverty, the degradation, the prostitution. Charity, ingenuity, opportunity. The constant framework of class. And art. Lots of art. The nothingness and the excess.

Aside from personal penchant – as a long-time fan of neo-Victorian literature, this romantic thriller was bound to appeal to me – Elizabeth Macneal’s debut boasts all the ingredients of a stunning success. Compelling characterisation, clever plot lines, and the seamless blending of historical accuracy with imaginary detail. Macneal’s world comes vividly alive and the thrill is deliciously real.

And a success it is proving to be. Macneal’s novel won the 2018 Caledonia Novel Award, is a Sunday Times top ten bestseller, and the TV rights have already been sold. And it’s not even out in paperback yet.

But more than that. There is a very modern edge to this story. At its heart, it is a story of womanhood, it is a story of breaking bonds and forging new ones, and it is a story of escape. And of course, the universal themes; life, and death.

And it is perfectly on point for the post ‘Me Too’ consciousness that we are living in. One particularly poignant passage conveys the male power that Iris feels threatened by, the paradoxical standard that women are held to; one that women are pushing against even now, two centuries later:

 ‘… all her life she has been careful not to encourage men, but not to slight them either… an arm around her waist is nothing more than friendly, a whisper in her ear and a forced kiss on the cheek is flattering, something for which she should be grateful. She should appreciate the attentions of men more, but she should resist them too, subtly, in a way both to encourage and discourage, so as not lead to doubts of her purity and goodness but not to make the men feel snubbed.’

Macneal’s Doll Factory. It is romantic, it is considered, and it is thrilling. I’d go as far as to employ that feminist buzzword, ‘empowering’.

Yes. Must read.

Reviewed by Nadia Tariq

 

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING – WRITER CLARE SWATMAN

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Clare Swatman spent almost 20 years working in women’s weekly magazines. Her debut novel Before You Go was published last year, and her second, The Mother’s Secret, is published by Pan Macmillan on 22 February. She’s currently writing her third novel.

What was the first writing advice you were ever given?

‘Write about what you know’ is the advice most people give, and I was no exception. But for me it really did ring true, especially the first time round. When I started writing Before You Go it was with the idea that I just wanted to write something. I wanted to be able to say I’d given it a go, and never regret not having tried; I had no expectation that anyone would ever read it, or want to read it, so I was really writing it for myself, with the hope that some day, something might come of it – but it might not. And so, while concentrating on the plot and developing the characters, I found it really helpful to write about places I was familiar with; Newcastle, where I went to university, Crouch End, where I used to live, Doncaster, where my best friend lives. It meant there was one less thing to worry about getting right, and I could concentrate on the story in hand. I also used my experience of writing true life stories to develop the characters and the situations they find themselves in. Years of interviewing people about the things that have happened to them has given me a good insight into how people respond to happiness, heartache and difficulties – and it’s not always how you’d expect!

What was the most recent writing advice you were given?

There’s no magic bestseller formula (if there were we’d all be making millions of pounds!) – all you can do is write the best book you can. That’s it. And if you try and write to be a bestseller you’re more than likely going to set yourself up for disappointment. It’s a tough one to swallow, because of course as a writer you dream of selling lots of books and of everyone loving what you’ve spent years writing, but it’s easier to expect smaller things, and be pleased by them, otherwise you’d live in a perpetual state of disappointment and anxiety! So now I try to remember how pleased I am to be published and keep trying to write the best stories I can.

What Is the piece of advice you’d most like to pass on?

Don’t compare yourself to others. This has been a big hurdle to overcome, and I have to admit I’m still working on it! I love my social media, and think it has great value in my life. But there are times when I think it can work against you, and the publication of a new book can often be one of those times. I’ve found it always feels, rightly or wrongly, as though every other book being released, read or even written is mentioned all the time on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – except mine! It also feels as though everyone else is selling hundreds of thousands of copies and getting huge success within days of publication. Of course this probably isn’t true, but as with everything, social media takes the shiny parts of people’s lives and magnifies them. So comparing your own life and career to the life and career of someone else portrayed online is not only pointless but can be damaging. So I’ve had to learn to stop – and I would definitely give this piece of advice to anyone starting out in writing or any other career. Just do you own thing, enjoy it, and stop worrying about everyone else!