Hamleys and Gamages

May 2019
The Toymakers - Robert Dinsdale – Penguin, 2018 (kindle edition)
* * * *
The author has clearly read The Night Circus and taken notes - not that that is a bad thing. This is a similar book featuring creative people in a magical real-world setting, in this case a London toyshop called Papa Jack's Emporium that opens at the first frost of winter and closes when snowdrops start to push through the ice. It starts with a marvellous evocation of the excitement of a visiting a toy store at Christmas where the tin soldiers salute you as you pass and the hobby horses whinny to be ridden, and continues to describe inventive and magical toys throughout the book. And it manages to tell an affecting story too.
( Read more... )