Look at that cover - so beautiful. Set in Dickensian London, the East End of all places, where there is very little beauty and daily life is one horrible, grubby, desperate slog. Iris and her twin sister work long hours for a doll maker, hand sewing exquisite clothes for the dolls. Iris dreams of becoming an artist, and in her few spare hours with her meagre savings paints and draws. Noticed by a talented young artist of the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists, she sees a way for her and her sister to escape their dreary hard life. With her unusual looks and beautiful red hair she quickly becomes the artist's muse, then creative collaborator, well timed for the 1851 Great Exhibition. At the same time, she is being stalked by a sinister character called Silas Reed, a taxidermist who makes his living by sourcing and preserving dead animals - birds, cats, dogs, what ever he can find to satisfy the demand from the wealthy for real life decorative ornaments or models for artists. His obsession with Iris is horrific to behold, as are his means to obtain her for himself. This is a wonderful and compelling mixture of love story, and thriller, set against the brilliantly rendered back drop of Victorian London. I can just imagine this as a movie or mini series using all the remarkable talents and resources of the BBC and others - imagine the costuming!
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