This book was quite frankly bizarre but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. Ultimately a love story between two troubled, eccentric characters—it follows their unusual courtship. The narrative is interspersed with short stories that at first through me but I ended up enjoying immensely.
If you enjoy something a bit different from the norm I’d really recommend you give it a try. I will definitely read Nina Allan again.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"A great deal has been written on dolls. There are volumes on the history of dolls, the provenance of dolls, the value of dolls, heavy catalogues filled with lavish illustrations, images that quicken the blood and stimulate desire. I have read that the doll is a surrogate: for friendship or for family, for love. Most children grow out of dolls eventually, but not the collector. The true collector, like the poet or the idiot, remains prey to the intensified sensibilities of childhood until the day they die."

It's true literary fiction and will likely be in for a chance to win multiple awards. I loved it! The writing, the prose itself, is absolutely stunning and totally up my alley. It's creepy, unique and slightly whimsical, It had all the traits to be a great book and for me it truly was.

I loved the elusiveness of the characters. Was Andrew unhinged, or just someone who focused all his admiration and attention on dolls (and people who liked them)? If he was mentally damaged in some way, was it surprising, given his past? I like that the author didn't just feed the answers here - she left it up to the reader to decide.

I really couldn't get in to The Dollmaker by Nina Allen. Unfortunately I didn't finish the book. I didn't like the way the book swapped between the story of the the dollmaker and the short stories.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book... it was a bit weird,a bit creepy. Cleverly done.
The transition between story,letters and story within story was done really well...
Then I think I read one of the Chaplin stories that I just didn't enjoy and from there,I never really got back into it.
I still don't fully understand what the house/hospital Bramber lived in was,or how it worked.
Tied together nicely at the end,and engaging enough.

This book didn't do it for me personally, it's well written and I would not discourage others from reading it as many people will enjoy it I'm sure.

A fantastic, well-written read. Unnerving and atmospheric. I couldn’t put it down - would definitely recommend.

This is a book that I didnt really get. It's true literary fiction, and sure to win awards - the writing, the prose itself, is absolutely top notch. But for me, personally, I floundered in this tale (within a tale), and hoped for some kind of resolution that gave a decisive (and hopefully happy) ending. Instead, I was left with deflation that I didn't really understand. Perhaps it's just a nuance that I missed.
I don't want to disparage the actual book though, as I feel its a personal failing rather than one of the author. Recommended, because even though I only half enjoyed it, I feel the wide-ranging reader will get something out of it.

"A great deal has been written on dolls. There are voluimes on the history of dolls, the provenance of dolls, the value of dolls, heavy catalogues filled with lavish illustrations, images that quicken the blood and stimulate desire. I have read that the doll is a surrogate: for friendship or for family, for love. Most children grow out of dolls eventually, but not the collector. The true collector, like the poet or the idiot, remains prey to the intensified sensibilities of childhood until the day they die."

Allan's plot revolves around Andrew's finding solace in his dolls and is set in an atmospheric, whimsical and almost terrifying, setting. Although the ending is definitely rewarding and the story unique, the plot could be better and tighter.

There are some books which linger in your subconscious and make you look at any doll you ever see again in a new light. this is one creepy read. Very atmospheric as it transports you to Bodmin Moor and the lonely raw moors but it's mostly set in a place where dolls are made, where body parts hang from the walls and where a lonely girl awaits her fate.

It's very whimsical and atmospheric. Andrew is the character we meet at the start as he navigates his way through wanting to be with dolls despite being a boy. He struggles with life and his emotions and finds comfort of sorts in his dolls. Answering a personal ad in the doll magazine, that's how he comes to know Bramber and how the story of her imprisonment comes to the fore.

It's a slow burn read but one that builds to create a story that you look back on to fully appreciate the full picture. I enjoyed the themes of loneliness and social entrapment but I was never fully sure I understood what the book was trying to say. It's a evocative and immersive read but the dolls started to freak me out a little and I was unsure I was grasping all of the nuances and what they represented. It could be me overthinking things too of course.

Bodmin Moor and the setting as a whole works particularly well for this kind of creepy read. Dolls, dark fairytales and the mooreland mist skirting the edge of everything you see and believe.