Elizabeth Sarah Macneal (born 16 October 1988) is a British writer, author of the award-winning book ''The Doll Factory'', described as a "lush Victorian fiction".

Life

Elizabeth was born in Edinburgh on 16 October 1988 and is the oldest of four children to award-winning Edinburgh architect Lorn Macneal and his wife Catharine. She was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh. She studied English literature at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

. After graduating, she did further postgraduate study at the University of East Anglia as a Malcolm Bradbury Scholar, where she gained an MA. Elizabeth is a successful ceramicist, and this has supported her whilst working on the novel. She is based in Limehouse in east London.

''The Doll Factory''

The book was first published on 2 May 2019 in UK and on 13 August in the USA. The book explores the complex relationship between Iris Whittle and her artist-admirer, Louis Frost, and Silas Reed, a taxidermist and curio-collector. It is set in London at the time of the Great Exhibition. It links to the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

and the character of Iris is influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite model,

Lizzie Siddal Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall (25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862), better known as Elizabeth Siddal, was an English artist, poet, and artists' model. Significant collections of her artworks can be found at Wightwick Manor and the Ashmolean. Siddal ...

. The book was initially published by Picador in the United Kingdom. In the United States it is published by Emily Bestler Books. It has already (August 2019) been translated into 29 languages and the TV-rights have been bought by Buccaneer Media. It is also available as an audio-book.

''Circus of Wonders''

Again set in Victorian England, Elizabeth's second book released in 2021 looks at the world of circus "freaks" and atrocity exhibitions, but from the perspective of one of the persons chosen for such a role due their imperfections, but has a very unconventional approach rather than the standard heroes and villains. The book was published on 13 May 2021.

Awards and honours

* Caledonian Novel Award 2018 (pre-publication) *The Times bestseller *

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

Top Ten bestseller *Radio 2 Book Club pick *Radio 4 Book at Bedtime *Radio 4 Book of the Week *UK bestseller in Waterstones,

Foyles W & G Foyle Ltd. (usually called simply Foyles) is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as the ...

W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

and Amazon.com *US bestseller in

Indie Bound IndieBound is a marketing movement for independent bookstores launched in 2008 by the American Booksellers Association. With resources targeted for "indie" booksellers, it promotes fiscal localism. IndieBound's curated reading lists include the I ...

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

, Amazon.com and Bam!

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macneal, Elizabeth Sarah 1988 births Living people People educated at Fettes College Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of the University of East Anglia British writers Writers from Edinburgh Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers