#Elizabeth Macneal

[freckles-and-books]

October reads and drinks

[beejsdevilishsoulmate]

I have 2 new books that I want to read, but my neurospicy ass won't let me right now...

[judgingbooksbycovers]

The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

By Imogen Hermes Gowar, Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, and Jess Kidd.

[jvzebel-x]

"How can she explain how she feels? How naked, how afraid all of a sudden? How all her life, she has been careful not to encourage men, but not to slight them either, always a little fearful of them? She is seen as an object to be gazed at or touched at leisure. 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 to lead to doubts of her purity and goodness but not to let the men feel snubbed. She is tired."

x. "The Doll Factory", Elizabeth Macneal

[misskyeyes]

London. 1850. The greatest spectacle the city has ever seen is being built in Hyde Park, and among the crowd watching two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment – forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning. When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love. But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening...

Inspired by Elizabeth MacNeal, The Dolls Factory.

Elisa as Iris / Fabrizio as Louis / Ermal as Silas

[semper-legens]

23. Circus of Wonders, by Elizabeth MacNeal

Owned: No, library Page count: 369 My summary: Nellie was born with blotches all over her skin, and that makes her a freak in her home village. Unable to marry her off, her father seeks an alternate solution when the circus comes to town. There Nellie meets Jasper Jupiter, the circus’ gregarious and fame-hungry leader, and his younger brother Toby, haunted by something dark in his past. But as Nellie grows to like her new life, trouble is brewing on the horizon. The circus is in trouble. And Jasper will stop at nothing to make his name... My rating: 3.5/5 My commentary:

Why am I drawn to books about the circus? No, I know the answer to that. There's two answers, actually - one answer is that I read The Night Circus at a formative age, imprinted on the story, and continued to read books that might be like it in an effort to capture the magic, and the other is that books about circuses tend to have themes of being an outsider or outcast from 'normal' society, something I can relate to. This is a more historical novel than the fantasy of The Night Circus, though it does have themes of the fantastical and how fantasy and reality intersect, which are interesting.

Really, though, this is a story about family. Jasper and Toby's power imbalance, Nellie's strained relationship with her birth family and the acceptance she finds at the circus, Pearl's arrival and Nellie's immediate attachment to her - this book is largely about the familial, and what it means to be a family and have family ties. Nellie learns that she wants to continue her career and perform for the rest of her life, but she also wants to be seen as a person, and her birth marks mean that she is viewed as a freak by all but her fellow circus performers. Initially, she wants to run to America with her brother and have a farm; Toby later proposes a similar arrangement with them as a couple, from which she recoils as she realises she prefers her sorority of circus 'freaks'. Toby, meanwhile, has spent a life in his brother's shadow and longs to shine, but a horrible event in their past has rendered him meek and subservient. Jasper is definitely taking advantage of him, but he loves his brother and wants to get their dream circus, even if it seems impossible due to Jasper's lofty ambitions.

The other major theme is greed. Jasper wants to be great, and is willing to throw pretty much everyone in his path under the bus to achieve that goal. He takes out loans and then doesn't pay them back because he's spent all the money expanding. He grows jealous of Nellie's fame, and cuts her out of the show to disastrous effect, finally going into a meltdown when Toby takes over as Jasper Jupiter for a show, cracking and creating metal automatons who don't need to be paid or fed and don't get sick to replace his performers, reasoning that it'll gain him more money. One thing I found interesting about Jasper's descent into avarice is how he isn't completely vilified - sure, he's a terrible person, but the narrative shows his point of view and leads the reader to sympathise with him, and understand why he is the way that he is, which is always interesting in an antagonist. His greed comes out of, initially, desperation, and then a consuming desire for fame that takes over him completely. His descent is honestly chilling.

That's not to say that this book didn't put a foot wrong, however. From the minute the mystery of what happened between Jasper, Toby, and their dead friend Dash in the Crimea is brought up, I guessed exactly what it was, and when it was revealed...yep, I was exactly right. I also wonder about narratives like this that focus on freak show performers but give focus mostly to performers whose bodies are considered more 'normal' by our society (Nellie's birth marks, Toby's tattoos, Pearl's albinism) than those who are not (Stella the bearded lady,  the giantess). That's not to say that these characters aren't sympathetic or portrayed with nuance, more that I wonder about the underlying causes of who gets to be a protagonist in these kinds of stories. Overall, though, I really enjoyed it, even if it didn't quite scratch that Night Circus itch for me.

Next up, it's time for something both a little lighter and a little heavier, with a portrait of a relationship.

[shortskirtsandsarcasm]

The Burial Plot Review

Blaming my current sleeplessness on Elizabeth Macneal herself

Elizabeth MacNeal is back! Creepy historical fiction! Her narratives disturb me so much. I love it. I am patiently waiting for her to disturb me again.

For the full review of this title, see my Medium page and my website.

[caitlinlidae]

Currently listening to the audiobook of The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal on my drive from Adelaide to Sydney.

Here are my current thoughts:

Me, as I begin Part 3:

[someonelookingpraediti]

Currently Reading...

The Winter Spirits - various authors

Two years ago The Haunting Season was the first Waterstones special edition I bought, and the first book I owned with stencilled edges! I was just starting to discover books as collector's items, rather than just for reading, and in the two years since, my collection has grown to an unreasonable size.

So when this follow-up book was announced, of course I was going to order the matching special edition! This one has a lot of the same authors as the first, but it also has some new authors too, including Susan Stokes-Chapman. Honestly, I'd have bought the book just to read her story!

I did try my best, while reading these short stories, not to look at the author until I'd read each story, so my expectations weren't influenced by anything I'd read by the author before.

Host - Kiran Millwood Hargrave In the last book, I called this author's contribution "pleasant but unimaginative". This year's was a laborious read. It cut off too early, with no real resolution.

Inferno - Laura Shepherd-Robinson This author wasn't included in the last book, and I haven't read any of her other work. This was a good story, but incredibly predictable. It was a little heavy-handed, and probably would have done better if the plot had been more drawn out in a longer story.

The Old Play - Andrew Michael Hurley I liked this one - the plot was very obvious, but it was suitably suspenseful, and it ended in the right place. The was a nice surprise, as in the previous book, this author's story was one of my least favourite.

A Double Thread - Imogen Hermes Gower This one was an interesting read, because the characterisation was great, but again, the ending was very predictable, and felt rushed. This was what I was expecting, based on the author's story in the last book.

The Salt Miracles - Natasha Pulley This was one of my favourites - a great, creepy, religious story, which I was anxious to finish. And it ended brilliantly! In the last book, this author's story was also one of my favourites!

Banished - Elizabeth Macneal This was an okay read, it was quite nicely written. But there were no revelations or surprises, it was very obvious. Strangely, last year's story was really gripping!

The Gargoyle - Bridget Collins This one was weirdly nice?! It has an ending which could have suggested something sinister in the future, but is more likely just a nice, happy ending to a misunderstood monster. That's the ending I'm choosing to believe. I liked this one, which is interesting, because I didn't like the last book's story at all!

The Master of the House - Stuart Turton This is another new author. I wasn't expecting this one to make me cry! In fairness, I was already emotional. This one did start to trail off in the middle, but picked back up, and had a strong ending.

Ada Lark - Jess Kidd This was a lovely story! A nice friendly ghost, and a welcome break from the mostly sinister stories. I loved the way this one was written, and the author's contribution to the last book was also one of my favourites.

Jenkin - Catriona Ward Another new author. This was one of my least favourite stories. It was a really childish, fairytale-type concept. The ending was uninspired.

Widow's Walk - Susan Stokes-Chapman Another new author for this year, but an author I've read (and absolutely loved) before. This story was definitely one of my favourites. There were no hidden twists, but it was beautifully written and definitely creepy!

Carol of the Bells and Chains - Laura Purcell This one seemed fairly good while I was reading it, but actually was much less interesting on reflection. I would have expected more, as I loved the author's previous contribution, and have read one of her novels, which was brilliant.

[iffoundpleasereturntolondon]

[freckles-and-books]

Last, current, next

[iklees]

Circus of Wonders / Elizabeth Macneal

Door haar grote moedervlekken is Nell een buitenbeentje in haar dorpje op het Engelse platteland. Als haar vader haar verkoopt aan een voorbijtrekkend circus is ze eerst boos en verdrietig, maar ze begint te beseffen dat ze bij de andere artiesten minder uit de toon valt. Jasper heeft haar gekocht omdat hij ziet dat Nell potentieel heeft om zijn circus te verbeteren en van hem een showman te maken op het niveau van P.T. Barnum. Jasper's broer Toby ziet de grootse plannen niet zitten, maar kan niet anders dan meegaan, voor Nell en voor zijn broer met wie hij sinds de Krimoorlog een groot geheim deelt.

It dawned on Jasper as soon as she steadied herself in the air; he is small fry. As he walksout of the tent, he can see only flwas, just as a potter notices only where his thumb has slipped and scored the clay. The fabric is scarred with a thousand nicks and patches, stains leaching into the white triangles. His lioness is threadbare and bone-thin. Stella's ruff is frayed, as shabby as a Drury Lane actress. Brunette's growing pains mean that sometimes she is too ill to perform, excuses he is certain another showman would not tolerate. He stalks up and down the rows of wagons, labourers pressing themselves away from him, sensing his mood like the scent of iron. He finds a groom sprawled in the hay with a cigar, and the boy stubs it out quickly, leaps to his feet. 'Isn't there work to be done? The tack is filthy! The saddles haven't been waxed in months.' Jasper pulls off his belt and beats him, just to feel the power of it, the crack of the flesh, the leather warming to his palm, the boy's side still scabbed from his last whipping. Skin rips as easily as paper. A year, he thinks, as the belt lands. A year, a year, a year! A year until he can afford a London pitch.

Het verhaal wordt wisselend verteld vanuit het perspectief van Nell, Jasper en Toby. Op ongeveer tweederde ben ik een tijdje gestopt met lezen, omdat het allemaal te onheilspellend werd. Natuurlijk wilde ik uiteindelijk toch weten hoe het zou aflopen.

[fizzyxcustard]

My current read.

Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

Publisher: Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books Date of publication: February 1st 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Magical Realism Purchase Links: Amazon | Audible | WorldCat Goodreads Synopsis: 1866. In a coastal village in southern England, Nell picks violets for a living. Set apart by her community because of the birthmarks that speckle her skin, Nell’s world is her beloved…