The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Imogen Hermes Gowar

 

What is your favorite ghost story, novel, or movie?

 The Haunting Season was the perfect book to read over Halloween weekend.  I meant to post this review last weekend, but the weekend got away from me!

 The Haunting Season is “eight ghostly tales for long winter nights.”  I loved them.  Most of the stories were set in the past, in particular, Victorian times, but there were also some modern stories.  They were very spooky and inspired by telling spooky stories around a fire in winter.  They are very atmospheric type of old-fashioned stories and I enjoyed them.

 My favorite stories in the collection were:

  ‘A Study in Black and White’ by Bridget Collins which is a story about a man coming to a village and seeing a mysterious house with a chess theme to the gardening.  He decides to rent it and soon finds out that the chess loving former owner may still be around.

 ‘Thwaite’s Tenant’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar is the story of a woman who has taken her son and left her cheating husband.  She soon discovers that leaving with her father may not have been a good idea.

 ‘Lily Wilt’ by Jess Kidd tells the tale of a photographer that falls in love with the dead girl who he has been sent to take pictures.  What will he do to bring her back?

 ‘The Chillingham Chair’ by Laura Purcell is the story of a girl in a wheelchair getting ready to celebrate the wedding of her sister.  She soon starts to realize that the wheelchair may be haunted, and that her sister’s fiancé may have secrets of his own.

 ‘The Hanging of the Greens’ by Andrew Michael Hurley is a spooky story that involves Christmas holly in a way I’ve never heard from before.  I liked how the story was told in a unique way.

 My least favorite story was ‘The Eel Singers’ by Natasha Pulley.  I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in this story.  I looked it up and saw that in involves characters from other books she’s written.  If you like her books, then this story is for you.  Otherwise, not really.

 Overall, The Haunting Season is the perfect book of spooky stories to read by the fire.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Pegasus Crime.  Thank-you!

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal

Title: The Doll Factory

Author: Elizabeth MacNeal

Read by:  Tuppence Middleton

Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 55 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio.  Thank-you!

The Doll Factory is a perfect read for this time of year.  It is the perfect combination of the realism of Victorian England of a Charles Dicken novel with the creepy obsessions of You by Caroline Kepnes.  The Doll Factory is set in 1851 London with the building of the Exhibition in Hyde Park as part of the background of the story.

Iris and her twin sister Rose work in a “doll factory” making dolls for wealthy clients that look like their children – dead or alive.  Iris dreams of breaking fee and becoming an artist in her own right.  When Louis Frost, a member of the pre-Raphaelites asks her to be his model, Iris feels that she has finally found a way out of the doll factory.

Albie is a young orphan who lives with her sister, a teenage prostitute.  He makes money by sewing doll clothes for Iris and finding dead animals for Silas.  Silas is a taxidermist who takes great pride in his work.  He has dreams of having his specimens being shown at the great exhibition.  When he sees Iris one day, he falls in love.  How will the ambitions of all be filled?

This was an intriguing audiobook to listen to and Tuppence Middleton was a wonderful expressive narrator.  I especially loved the author interview that was included at the end of the audiobook.  I hope more audiobooks start to do this!

I loved the descriptions in this novel of the dark depths of Victorian London.  The poverty, filth, and the limited possibilities juxtaposed with the glory, wealthy, and splendor of the Great Exhibition were fascinating to read.

My favorite part of the novel was the journey of Iris.  She wanted to live her dream and have a fulfilling artistic live – which is hard for a woman in Victorian London.  So many people wanted her to be the doll, a beautiful creature to look at, but not to live her own life.   The dolls, butterflies trapped in glass, and women in the paintings carried this same theme through the novel.  I also loved that she was a part of the pre-Raphaelite art movement, which I have read about in the past.  Her and Louis were placed among the real historical painters and I found it fascinating.

I loved how the story opened slowly over time revealing bits and pieces until you can put together the true arc.  I had some items figured out early, but was still surprised by the story.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say I found the ending to be immensely satisfying. 

Overall, The Doll Factory was an immensely satisfying tale that perfectly blended suspense, the dark depths of Victorian London, and one woman’s journey to artistic fulfillment.