Iris Wittle paints dolls for a living, but she really wants to be an artist. Then one day she meets Louis Frost who wants her to model for him. It’s 1850 and modelling for a painter and prostitution are almost synonymous. Iris’ twin sister Rose and her parents disown her when she moves in with the eccentric artist and his pet wombat Guinevere. At first she’s just his model and his pupil, but their relationship changes throughout the book.
Silas Reed collects curiosities, and he’s a taxidermist who sometimes sells preserved animals to Louis Frost. He’s secretly in love with Iris, she’s his ideal woman. His obsession with her grows by the day and he is convinced she’s in love with him too, but Iris barely knows he’s alive. Silas has felt like this before and that didn’t turn out well for the woman.
This book was incredible. I absolutely adored it.. the relationship between Iris and Louis grows slowly. Silas’ obsession is scary, in today’s terms I think we’re looking at an incel.
I highly recommend this book and I’m really looking forward to reading Elizabeth Macneil’s other books!
Read for the ShelfReflection Reading Challenge 2024.
Prompt 13: A book about art.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
