The Magic Toyshop [Paperback]

Angela Carter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 1, 1996

One night Melanie walks through the garden in her mother's wedding dress. The next morning her world is shattered. Forced to leave the comfortable home of her childhood, she is sent to London to live with relatives she has never met: Aunt Margaret, beautiful and speechless, and her brothers, Francie, whose graceful music belies his clumsy nature, and the volatile Finn, who kisses Melanie in the ruins of the pleasure gardens. And brooding Unlce Philip loves only the life-sized wooden puppets he creates in his toyshop. This classic gothic novel established Angela Carter as one of our most imaginative writers and augurs the themes of her later creative work.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Originally published as Honeybuzzard (LJ 1/1/67), Shadow Dance launched British author Carter's career, which she buttressed with The Magic Toyshop two years later. Both received praise from LJ's reviewers, especially the latter novel, which was hailed as an "extraordinary, even brilliant piece of writing" (LJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A magic novel, sexy and eccentric, romantic and tricky."
—Voice Literary Supplement

"Beneath its contemporary surface, this novel shimmers with blurred echoes—from Lewis Carroll, from 'Giselle' and 'Coppelia,' Harlequin and Punch.… It leaves behind it a flavor, pungent and unsettling."
—The New York Times Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140256407
• ISBN-13: 978-0140256406
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #335,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Angela Carter (1940-1992) was the author of many novels, collections of short stories, plays, and books for children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Place to Begin Reading Angela Carter November 2, 1998

By Jeffrey Osier

Format:Paperback

I've been knocked out by every Angela Carter book I've read, but for some reason this early effort is my favorite. It doesn't contain her most gorgeously drunken prose (I think that honor goes to "Wise Children") or showcase her unique storytelling gifts as well as her short fiction does, but it's a powerhouse all the same.

There are some great scenes here: the sensuality of the girl's private dream world at the beginning of the novel, the crushing finality when she and her brother arrive at their uncle's house and she realizes what a grim turn her life has taken, the descriptions of her brother, their monstrous uncle, his long-suffering wife and hapless brothers-in-law, the bizarre puppets her uncle creates.... This is highly imaginative stuff, and it doesn't let up for a minute.

"Nights at the Circus" and "Wise Children" are both very funny novels, and even their darkest episodes can't diminish the humor. "The Magic Toyshop" sinks into darkness very early on and remains there for most of the novel. But Melanie is such an engaging and sympathetic character that you never once give up hope that somehow, she'll find some kind of escape from the dismal world into which she's thrown.

If you've never read Angela Carter, this is a good place to start. It's a bit more traditional than many of her other novels, but it has plenty of bite and a set of characters you'll never forget.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Toyshop horror romance? January 21, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

It seems I can't go back to this book without recalling the conditions in which I read it - I had just entered a four weeks-schooling period (an obligatory choice for military service in my country), which took place in a remote manor house in the countryside, it was full summer and very hot, and I shared a tiny room with a guy who never spoke a word. I was extremely bored and horrified at the thought that this would be my life for a month onward. At nights I read this book about a girl who also enters a world she doesn't find very pleasing, and even though I'm not suggesting that I experienced nearly that amount of misery, I truly could identify with her. I felt like being locked in a cage, but this book liberated me in a way.

Which isn't to say it is a very optimistic or light-hearted work. Not in any sense. But it's written with emotion and humour, the author's voice is very sympathetic. It makes you think about life. So what, we're all prisoners, there's no way out, just keep on doing what you do, but it's good to remember once in a while that dreams never hurt.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing, dark story November 7, 2000

By Sabrina

Format:Paperback

In 1991 I saw the film version of this book on A&E and was immediately hooked. Carter wrote the screenplay, and while the film had many elements of magical realism not in the book, it was an almost perfect adaptation. I wish I could see it again! After searching in vain for a copy of the book in the US, I finally found one in a small bookstore in Sydney, Australia in '92, and have been reading it at least once a year since then. Although it was one of Carter's earliest works, its strange rhythm and imagery are spellbinding and very mature, and yes, it does have echoes of traditional fairy tales, something that became somewhat of an obsession for Carter in later years. It's a wonderful story.