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Review - The Doll Factory - Elizabeth Macneal. Two sisters Iris and Rose work together making dolls. It is the mid 19th century and whilst nearby the great exhibition is being planned, their days are long and repetitive, working for a hard taskmistress the girls dream of escaping to a more congenial life, Rose wants her own genteel little shop and Iris dreams of learning to paint. But both girls bear the scars of living in an era where medical care wasn't great. Rose has lost her beauty to the scarring of smallpox whilst  Iris has a hunched shoulder, due to a break in her collarbone at birth. and both girls fear no man will even look at them now. Iris's beauty, however, attracts the attention of two very different men. She is approached by artist Louis Frost, a member of the burgeoning pre Raphaelite brotherhood who begs her to model for his painting for which she barters art lessons in return.  Whilst in the shadows of the grimiest rookeries of old London, lurks lonely S...

Welcome to the Blog Tour for yet another fascinating historical fiction book The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau. My thoughts on this book with its beautiful blue and white cover. It was the cover which drew me in, as its so pretty and reminds me somewhat of another book I recently read and enjoyed – Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlugt which is also historical fiction focussing on the life of a woman involved in decorating porcelain and pottery. The heroine of Nancy Bilyeau's new book, The Blue is Genevieve Planche – of Huguenot descent, a young woman who desperately wants her ambition to be a famous painter to be taken seriously but in 18th century Spitalfields this is an almost impossible goal. Parallels here, too as I also recently read BlackBerry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton , set in spitalfields amidst the Huguenot silk weavers. If you like this type of book here are 3 great reads to spend your Christmas book tokens on! Back to The Blue .... Trying to emulate her hero the renowned...