review: the doll maker by sarban

Although The Doll Maker was written in the 1950s, the only real clue to that is that there’s no mention of cell phones; yet, that doesn’t seem too unusual as the setting is an isolated girls boarding school in England. Clare should have left Paston Hall at the end of the summer term, but she has stayed on to study for an Oxford scholarship at her father’s insistence. With all of her friends having graduated, Clare sneaks out on her own one night and meets a young man named Niall who has a black cat called Grim. Clare is immediately drawn to Niall, especially once she sees the dolls he carves. As luck would have it, Clare needs help with Latin to get the Oxford scholarship and Niall’s mother is able to serve as her tutor. What Clare doesn’t know though is the story behind the beautiful dolls Niall’s carves.

Sarban (a pseudonym for John William Wall) builds the story very slowly. The Doll Maker at first seems only a tale of boy meets girl, but then it’s revealed this is no ordinary boy. Niall is interested in dark arts and placing the girls he meets under his spell. It is a creepy and haunting tale and difficult to guess whether Clare will prevail over Niall.

About the audiobook: Sarban’s The Doll Maker is narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir whose voice does well to create an appropriately creepy atmosphere. The audio version was published in 2015 by Blackstone Audio and runs a little under seven hours.
4/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.