Papa Jack’s toy emporium is a place where young and old flock to buy beautiful handmade magical toys expertly crafted by Papa Jack and his 2 sons Emil and Kasparov. Into their world comes Cathy, pregnant teenage runaway trying desperately to keep the baby her parents want her to give up for adoption. In the emporium she’s nurtured and fought over by the 2 increasingly jealous brothers who want to win both her and the emporium from each other, set against a backdrop of 2 world wars and the decline of their magic. Beautifully written, the book dragged a little in parts and the magical toys definitely required the suspension of disbelief but well worth reading.

A fine piece of magic realism – a little long but very good
This novel takes us from 1906 to 1953 in the life of Papa Jack's Emporium in which toys are miraculously brought to life to the delight of shoppers in the winter months. It is also the story of Cathy Wray who finds herself arriving there in 1906 and her development alongside the Godman family who run the shop.
Generally enlightening and engaging, this book is full of wonders but also melancholy in many ways as things do not go always as expected or as planned. Strong on character development and on magic realism, it is enjoyable but perhaps a little overlong in the second half.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Robert Dinsdale has written a richly detailed and imaginative historical story of the place toys have in the hearts of both children and adults through Papa Jack's Emporium located on Iron Duke Mews in London. It begins in the early part of the 20th century with a pregnant 16 year old Cathy runs away from home to work at the Emporium which offers accommodation. A traumatised Papa Jack Godman began to comprehend the role that toys have for a child and the importance of accessing that childhood innocence and wonder after he spent so many years imprisoned in Siberia. He brings his sons, Kaspar and Emil to London, establishing himself as a master toymaker at the Emporium which operates on different laws on time and space, opening on the first day of frost, through Christmas and closing on the flowering of the first snowdrop. The rest of the year is spent coming up with and making new toys for the coming year. Kaspar and Emil are now toymakers too, their relationship riven with sibling rivalries. This is a dark story of love, family drama, war, loss and magic destined to enthrall.

Both brothers are smitten with Cathy, but she has eyes only for the gifted Kaspar, driven by intense wonder in his toymaking, and the insecure, jealous Emil, pressed down by his never ending worries, never stands a chance. Living in the dream Wendy House with the patchwork dog, Sirius, Cathy gives birth to her daughter, Martha and goes on to marry Kaspar. The Emporium continues to flourish, a place seemingly apart from the rest of the world, until it is rudely reminded that it is a part of a troubled humanity after so many people take against the Godmans with the imminent threat of the Great War. Kasper goes to war, coming back a a devastatingly broken man who has mentally retreated back to the safety of childhood, aided by his music box, and beyond the reach of his family. Emil is now married to Nina and has twin sons, he has sustained the shop through the war years with the toy soldiers he developed to fight The Long War, but cannot understand why his efforts remain unappreciated. A long drawn out war of attrition breaks out between Kaspar and Emil, emanating from their different perspectives and philosophy which has long term implications for the families, the toys and the Emporium. Kaspar leaves and disappears, lost to Cathy and Martha, to all intents and purposes, his beloved daughter.

This glorious novel is related from the perspective of Cathy through the years until she ends up living with Martha and her grandchildren. Dinsdale has a surprise for the reader at the end as it becomes clear that all is not as it seems. This is the kind of novel that will linger long in the psyche after the last page is read. It burrows its way into that part of us that is nourished by our intimate and close connections to toys, its links to childhood innocence, magic and joy, which become a beacon of light in times of desperate need. This is particularly true for those whose lives and minds become infested and broken by the horrors and darkness that lurks within humanity. An unforgettable and sublime book that I recommend highly. Many thanks to Random House Ebury for an ARC.

A wonderful,magical story,oh,how I wanted such a toy shop to be near me,especially over the Christmas period! Patchwork dogs that behave like real dogs,paper birds that fly and roost in straw nests,magical clouds,fairy castles and wooden soldiers are at the heart of this story.
Into this world,comes Cathy Wray,unmarried and pregnant,seeking a safe place to bring up her child. She is made welcome and over the years,she and her daughter experience the highs and lows of this wonderful toy shop.
Emil and Kaspar are the sons of Papa Jack who designs and creates such beautiful toys. Both men are attracted to Cathy,one cares deeply ,but is hesitant,the other wins her heart and hand. The toy soldiers have a central role,both in peace time and during the horrors of war. The question is asked,' do toys matter in war'? ,and the answer is considered most forcibly in the concluding pages.
Jealously and brotherly rivalry combine to making the ending such a heart breaker,but all is resolved and the lineage,we dare to hope,will continue and improve.
This story is pure joy throughout ,Mary Poppins on speed!! It was like being smothered by a comfort blanket,warm and cosy,reassuring and wonderful bygone childhood days. Perfect!!
I found that Cathy was a strong and determined character,grateful for the chance that life had given her,and loyal to both her daughter, Martha, and her husband. The toy soldiers speak of mental illness, PTSD,and how the horrors of war affect families and business relationships. Brotherly love and revenge are considered in great detail, neither has their greatest hour.
I have today posted this review to Goodreads,a brilliant 5 star read.

What a beautiful book! Cathy is taken into Papa Jack's emporium, a place where the lost find sanctuary and the believers and the children find magic. We are taken into the world of the emporium and then further in to the worlds that are created within it. There is magic and beauty but there is also rivalry, suffering, war, loss and love. It has everything!
This book is enchanting and captivating to read; the characters are gradually revealed as their layers are uncovered and we take them into our heart. Papa Jack's history is shared with us and we see into the changing relationship between Emil and his brother Kaspar. The toys are characters in themselves, particularly the wonderful Sirius. It is all so beautifully portrayed and in such an evocative, visual way. In fact, some of the book, I went back and re-read almost immediately which is something I very rarely do.

There is very little in life that makes me happier than a book that whisks me away from myself and plonks me right into the midst of a whimsical world of Magic with a Eastern European slant. Admittedly there are not many of those to the Pound.
The Toymakers is a sparkling example of the type though. It is utterly charming. The opening passages quite literally draw you in, down alleys and conduits into the most magical place I have been since my visit to Diagon Alley and a certain bespectacled Wizard.
This is not a book for children, there are some very dark notes in the overall symphony of this plot, but it is, at its very heart a book for the children in all of us. It awakens parts of us that delight in the toys of our youth, the pure uninhibited joy of seeing those simple things that engendered imagination and play in us all.
Set in the time of the gradual fall of the Tsars, beginning in the sharp cold of a London at First Frost, we are thrust into the Emporium, a Toy Shop like no other in the capital, where the toys themselves are imbued with a kind of magic that animates and enlivens them.
Wrapped up in whimsy and wonder, this is a family saga, the tale of a father and his two sons. Siblings in constant rivalry for the approval of their talented,wise and wondrous Father, a man with magic learned not from a school for magic, but that of hard knocks. The story of travels across the steppes of Russia to a Prison work camp where the only joy is in the little scraps of twig and leaf that Jecob conjures to raise a smile in the harshness. Here men are cruel and vicious using each other as punch bags and worse. Where a truth universal , that we are all children wanting the joy of the innocence of play, brings him to England with no money, grasp of the language or prospects. Yet that skill from inciting fond memory and warm thoughts, brings people flocking to the Emporium in droves.
Into his shadow step the two sons left behind as infants during that period of incarceration, caught in a interminable battle, both figurative and literally as they wage war with the legions of toy soldiers that younger brother Emil fashions from wood and paint and lacquer and a smidge of his own magical power, one born of envy ,of self doubt and love.
Brought into conflict more violently when a young girl in a delicate state finds the Emporium the perfect place to hide from disapproving parents, Society and the impending birth. Both siblings take a shine to the lovely young lady. The innocence of childhood soon turns horribly sour and that is only the start.
This is one of the most brilliantly complex and hauntingly beautiful books I have read in an age. It is angry and brutal and then tender and achingly innocent. It was a searing endictment on War and the battles rage on the fields of Flanders, the carpets of a hundred boyhood homes and in the hearts and minds of two brilliantly talented men, whose rivalry drives them further and further into a maelstrom that could destroy everything they were battling to control, on the brink of tainting the purity of the gifts they possess within their hearts and bringing the Emporium crashing into disaster that would destroy forever the joy of play which is the strongest balm for every wounded soldier be they young or old.

This book wasn't what I was expecting. Full review to follow

Not for me. Did not finish. No review to write. I hope others find it more to their taste.

An enchanting story with magic, love and the dark moments. This book is like nothing I’ve ever read before but I was intrigued and drawn in. The characters are vivid and the story flows beautifully. I can recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK Ebury Publishing and the author for the chance to review.

Sensing the life in everything : Magic for adults which will make, and break, your heart. Repeatedly.

Who did not, as a small child, believe their toys were alive, or, at least, HOPE they came alive when your back was turned…….and so, yes, reading the synopsis of this book, my heart quickened a little in anticipation of recovering that state of ‘magic, real magic IS the world’, that was some of the place of that child, not ‘pretending’ a toy was alive, but, even if only momentarily, believing.

The fact that this book was being compared to The Night Circus (which I adored, and catapulted me back into that place) was also appealing. The fact that it was compared also to The Miniaturist gave me pause (lacked it, in my opinion). I needn’t have worried. The Night Circus pleasurable shivers of delight up the back of the neck started very early with The Toymakers.

Primarily taking place in 1917 (and making a journey TO that time and place from some 11 years earlier, the Toymakers is set in what any toyshop should really be – a magical place where the maker-of-those-toys really is a true mage and can make the toys live.

Though the period of the First War will occupy a bulk of the book, it will end in the 1950s.

“The most terrible things can happen to a man, but he’ll never lose himself if her remembers he was once a child”

And that ‘primarily set in the period of the First War’ gives, I must warn, a lot of heartbreak to readers. A good author will have us invested in many of their characters – and Dinsdale, on this showing, is a very good author indeed.

“Mightn’t it be…that until you’ve seen the dark, you don’t really know the light”

Do take delight, as much as you can, in the playfulness and yes, that childhood remembered magic in the early part of the book, because payback time of grief will come. Without this reader feeling in any way manipulated, or in any way that the author was mechanically moving any of his sometimes surprising cast of characters around, my heart was being swung between imaginative delight and ‘I can’t take the sorrow of this’ moments.

Readers’ Appropriate Behaviour In A Public Place warning : Do not read in a public place.. If you must, ensure you have a ready supply of tissues. Involuntary cries of ‘oh no, no, no’ whimpers of grief and the like can alarm innocent bystanders.

Brief synopsis and subject matter, avoiding spoilers

Cathy, a young girl, pregnant, single, disgraced, runs away from home in Leigh-on-Sea to London, after seeing a curious, alluring advertisement in a local paper

“Help Wanted…Are you lost? Are you afraid? Are you a child at Heart? So are we. The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. Sales and stocktaking, no experience required. Bed and board included. Apply in person….”

Cathy becomes winter help in a most extraordinary toy shop, Papa Jack’s Emporium. Papa Jack, originally a man with a different name, and we suspect, a tragic story, set up his extraordinary toyshop, after arriving in this country from Eastern Europe, and Tsarist Russia, the father of two young boys he had not seen for many years.

Papa Jack, originally a carpenter, crafts exquisite toys, out of quality material when he can, but he can also create something extraordinary out of found materials such as pine cones, twigs and grasses. Really extraordinary.

By the time young Cathy reaches the Emporium, it is a famous and established place, financially successful, fabulously strange. Those two young boys, Kaspar and Emil are now also extraordinary toymakers, a little older than Cathy. Fast, loving, supportive brothers; fierce, struggling sibling rivals, both as inheritors of Papa Jack’s love, Papa Jack’s dream for the stability and future of the Emporium, and … well, much more.

“A secret has been revealed, and finally I understand the true meaning of toys….When you are young, what you want from toys is to feel grown-up. You play with toys and cast yourself as an adult, and imagine life the way it’s going to be. Yet, when you are grown, that changes: now, what you want out of toys is to feel young again. You want to be back there, in a place that did not harm nor hurt you, in a pocket of time built out of memory and love”

There are toys here, of course; there is magic, too. What is this book? It is a story of war, it is a story of the tangled web of relationships – parents and children, brothers and sisters, men and women. Not to mention toys themselves. What relationships might they have? What relationships could they have? Dinsdale makes us think about Creation itself, question who we are. He creates puzzles of time and space for us …..we just need to let our imaginations surrender to what once they were

I can’t praise this highly enough. I’m intrigued to discover Dinsdale has written earlier books, and I shall nervously explore them…….nervously because this book is so extraordinary that I would be surprised to have missed a writer so fine, for so long

The challenge is the one a reader has with a book which makes its own world so very much realer than the world we know. What on earth can I read next, that will not disappoint and seem pale and insubstantial? Poor author who has to follow Dinsdale. Not fair!

I received this from NetGalley as a (very well done) digital ARC

Lucky, lucky readers about to start their journey with this one

A beautifully magical story that will take your breath away and then break your heart.
The Emporium is a place where magic is created in every toy, and where children and adults alike find the sheer joy of playing with these toys.
Creating these wondrous items is the work of Papa Jack and his two sons, Emil and Kaspar. Competition is rife between the sons to create bigger and more imaginative toys, and when Cathy arrives the competition gets even more personal.
I hope that this will be one of the best selling books of the year, it really is something special.

First of all, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If I'm being entirely honest, my main motivation for reading this book was the fact that it was described as being similar to The Night Circus. I can see why some people have said that, but I should really know better by now than to pick up any book in the hope that it'll make me feel the same way as a totally different book did - that only ever leads to disappointment.

To be sure, there are some sparkles and flourishes of magic throughout The Toymakers, and it's certainly a very charming novel, but I was definitely expecting it to be more atmospheric throughout. Again, this is a case of my expectations working against me, but there were definitely long stretches of the novel when I felt that the magic just fizzled into nothing. That said, it might not have been a problem if I had felt more attached to the characters, but I didn't feel a real connection to any of them. On that note, one aspect of the book that I found utterly bemusing was the fact that Emil's twin sons are never named? They appear quite frequently in the second half of the book, so it came across as an absolutely bizarre oversight.

I did think that there were some really interesting themes explored here - the costs of war, mental trauma and free will all featured prominently, but personally I always found myself most affected by the parts that focused on memory and nostalgia. There's a very moving scene in the first half of the book involving a kind of flashback which felt like the heart of the whole novel, and I would really have loved to have seen that side of the story explored more! Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of war stories, unless they're even more critical of war than this one was, so when the novel started focusing more on that side of things, instead of the power of memory and the effects of the past, it left me a bit cold.

A lot of this review has been very subjective - speaking a bit more objectively, I found this to be a highly original book, with a very unique spin on the age-old concept of toys coming to life and the universal problem of how to cope when the wonder of childhood inevitably fades. I just found myself disappointed that the magic gradually fades from the narrative as well - because surely fiction is the one place where we can always hope to find that magic? However, I have to say that the final pages were some of the most captivating and beautifully written ones in the whole book, and even though it was nothing like the ending I'd been hoping for, the book certainly finished on a high. All in all, quite an enjoyable book - just not as enchanting as I'd hoped!

When I first requested this book on NetGalley I honestly wasn’t sure what I would think as this isn’t my “usual” kind of book. Now that I’ve finished it I cannot express how glad I am that I took a chance!

The Toymakers is probably going to stay on my list of favourite reads for a long time to come. Without giving too much away, it has quite the mix of genres that all seamlessly work together. It is a coming of age story set against a backdrop of family drama and war. It is a fantastical tale of childhood dreams and wonder, and a tale of heartbreak and loss.

After finishing the last page I was emotionally broken, I was elated and it has been a long time since any book has affected me so.

If you are considering pre-ordering a copy of The Toymakers, don’t hesitate. Do it today.

Many thanks to NetGalley UK and to Ebury Publishing for providing me with an ebook copy of The Toymakers.

I read this novel over Christmas, and it was the last book I read last year. It was the perfect finish to my 2017 reading; not quite what I expected, but something even better.

The cover and blurb for The Toymakers alludes to it being a heart-warming, whimsical Christmas tale. I expected something light-hearted, and I got that in places but a lot more as well. Don’t be fooled by the cute, festive cover – this book has hidden depths.

“Are you lost? Are you afraid? Are you a child at heart? So are we.”

Teenager Cathy is pregnant and scared. She wants to escape the control of her parents and, when she sees this advert in the newspaper, she sees an opportunity to do so. She embarks on a journey to London, to Papa Jack’s Emporium.

In turn-of-the-century London, the Emporium opens at first frost every winter. It’s a magical place of times gone by where anything can happen; the toys could even come to life.

Dinsdale captures the city and era wonderfully, but the star of the story here is the Emporium itself; a toyshop with magic inside its walls, where it seems anything is possible. As Cathy arrives, the shop is in its glory days, loved by all who visit, but the story follows this special place to its inevitable demise.

As I said at the beginning, this book has hidden depths. It opens with a beautiful prologue which promises a cosy Victorian fairytale, but it isn’t just a tale of magic and toys, it’s also a story of war. We follow Cathy, the shop’s owner Papa Jack and his two sons, Kaspar and Emil as WWII hits England.

Kaspar and Emil have always been in a battle for the Emporium, played out with their toy soldiers which bring customers flocking to their doors each season, but when a bigger war rages at their door, they must step up, even if it means leaving the comfort of the Emporium they’ve grown up in behind them.

The Toy Makers is reminiscent of one of my favourite books, The Night Circus in the magical, enchanting prose and the evocative descriptions which bring the magic to life. It also carries that same underlying feeling of darkness, and an ongoing battle – in this case the sibling rivalry between Kaspar and Emil – which underlies the story. Everything ties together beautifully, from the toy soldiers to the real battlefield and the magical realism weaved throughout the novel. The characters are well-drawn and the atmosphere is pitch perfect. Robert Dinsdale casts an an enchanting spell with the Toy Makers, and it’s a magic which everyone should experience.

This is a richly developed yet simple story that revolves around a family of toymakers and the fantastical worlds that they create. Its focus is on character development and how personality and circumstance contrive to stunt or blossom creativity. The book covers an extended period from pre-1st World War through to 1950's. It does this through extensive scenes and rapid transitions. The strength of this is that the reader can observe the key points at which change occurs and then jump forward to see the consequence of this. The downside is that there are gaps in knowledge that can impair the reading experience.

Characterisation is very strong and the characters each have a balanced personality that either has a positive or negative impact on the other characters as well as the plot. Context is important to the story and the magic, both real and impressionistic, of a toy store and the sense of wonder it offers the young is extremely well handled. That true magic occurs and is recognised but not exploited by all who visit the store is an expression of the love felt and cherished by the young visitors. This emotional connection is held through the years and the shop becomes a glowing memory for all. Where characters try to control and capitalise on the magic it slips through their fingers.

Although largely removed from the scenes of trauma, the section of the book that deals with the 1st World War and its impact on the lives it devastated is central to the plot. It explores how movement away from the magical world of the shop to the horrors of war result in enlightenment and personal growth but destroy the illusion.

Ultimately the magic is an expression of the individual characters and reflects their acceptance of all that is possible. That this is not possible for everyone is an inherent part of the story. There is sorry and death in the tale but a great deal of affection.

Highly recommended for those who are old in spirit but young at heart.

This book grabbed me immediately and I was utterly enchanted for the first half. The characters are full and flawed, which makes them likeable and real. The Emporium with all its toys is totally and completely wonderful, I wanted this to be real so I could visit and be a child again. However half way through the story seems to peter out and loses its way. Having said this the ending is good if a little rushed and I enjoyed all of the book for the most part. In my opinion could have been shorter which would have been far more enjoyable.

Atmospheric and enchanting in equal measure, with a touch of darkness, a portrayal of the destructive relationship of two brothers, caused by jealousy and misunderstanding. Lots to enjoy.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was such a lovely story. Cathy Wray finds herself 16 and pregnant in 1906 and instead of going to 'one of those homes' she runs away to Papa Jack's Emporium to become a shop hand. She is enchanted by all the magical toys that are created in the Emporium and this really is the magic of this book.
However, I got halfway through and just felt that it was taking too long to get to the point. There were too many story lines running through the book and each one was so elaborated described and told it just seemed to drag on. The magic was slowly wearing off I'm afraid. I did really want to finish and enjoy this story. The descriptions of the magical toys were so good and enough to capture anyone's imagination, young or old, but I felt I needed more action or disaster to keep me reading.

This book immediately grabbed my attention. The storyline was different and for the most part well thought out and developed. The characters all flawed but also forceful; to some extent self-serving. It would turn into a seriously good film . I did struggle with the ending - felt almost as if the final section should just have been left out or maybe serve as the opening to a second book in a series.

I expected a light-hearted magical read but this was a darker than that. I enjoyed the descriptions of the toys, it really brought them to life.
I struggled to ever get into this though. The characters didn't interest me. I was left confused at times as well. Possibly down to my reading slump.