The Dollmaker is published today. Of all my books to date, this has been the most hard fought, the longest in the making, the most intimate and personal. The novel’s principal characters, Andrew and Bramber, have been in my heart and in my mind for more than a decade. Finally, they are ready to tell their story. I hope all those readers who encounter them will love them as much as I do.
Thankfully, the process of bringing The Dollmaker to publication has not been anywhere near as stressful as writing it in the first place, and I want to thank the whole incredible team at riverrun for their support and enthusiasm in making the book a reality . As a physical object, it is a thing of real beauty., the artwork and book design perfectly in tune with the story itself. The vision and expertise involved in achieving that should not be understated. Andrew and Bramber could honestly not have been in safer hands.
I’d like to remind you that The Dollmaker is also available as an audiobook. Hearing my work come to life through the voices of others has always been a particular pleasure for me, the closest I have come to experiencing a book as a first-time reader might experience it. In this wonderful unabridged rendition by Luke Thomspon and Beth Eyre, it’s as if The Dollmaker truly takes on its own identity, apart from its author, a freedom every book needs and deserves. The extract below comes from the very start of the novel, which is coincidentally the passage I have chosen to present in my readings.
I will be taking part in author events to celebrate the launch of The Dollmaker through the month of May, both here in Scotland and in the West Country, where much of the book is set. Details to follow.
Andrew, it’s over to you. Let the journey begin.