The Toymakers

Reading The Toymakers is similar to that of the experiences of Alice falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, or to Dorothy and Toto being whisked away on tornado winds to the Land of Oz. Delightful and enchanting, this amazing literary achievement is not to be overlooked. At the heart it is a magical story, a spellbinding fairytale for readers of all ages. Yet there is a serious level of depth that will gnaw at your heart to tug both happiness and sadness out of the pages, yielding strong emotions from a rollercoaster experience.This is the tale of an ingenious Russian toymaker who created London’s most famous Papa Jack’s Emporium. It looks small from the outside, but when one steps over the threshold, a never ending monstrous palace expands into a labyrinth of room upon room, floor upon floor, level upon level, where dreams come true and everyone, for just a little while, becomes a child. Toys! Nothing but wondrous, glorious, creatively crafted magical toys that somehow mysteriously come alive!We begin in 1917 when a pregnant runaway named Cathy Wray, answers Papa Jack’s advertisement for store help. As she lands the job within seconds, her life begins anew as the Emporium soon becomes her passion, her home, her life. Kaspar and Emil are Papa’s two sons who are both ingenious toymakers in their own right, and both seem enamored with the pretty new girl Papa hired. Both eager to impress her with their wondrous creations, rivalry not only includes cupid’s darts but has the two deeply competitive brothers soon upsetting the peace as they try to outdo each other’s talents. Even the toys begin to battle for supremacy. Toy soldiers, paper dirigibles, mechanical stuffed animals, bottomless toy chests, pipe cleaner birds, dollhouses that grow, paper trees that spurt up from the ground, and music boxes that spin ballerinas, all mystify the mind and will enchant readers as every glittering page turns like a colorful carousel of hobby-horses dancing to the tune of the calliope.But as we all know, life is not a fairytale and Cathy soon discovers that the haunting inner sanctum of the Emporium is filled with dark secrets, sibling wars, and toys that although seem like they are made from pixie dust, have hidden evil agendas of their own. Light becomes dark as World War I snatches Kaspar off to battle, and he must leave the family to keep the business of toy making thriving without him. Love and war, enemies and allies, they live both on the battlefields of France, and in the Emporium itself. When Kaspar returns from war a broken man, all hell breaks loose turning the toy store into a battlefield of family feuds, loneliness and despair, a place of broken dreams, and a haunted mansion where darkness comes up from the floorboards to make little children scream in the night.I haven’t read anything this mesmerizing, this enchanting, or this magical in many many years. The word “Unforgettable” is printed on the front cover and I can’t agree more. Dinsdale’s writing skill is exemplary as he has surely created a finely tuned literary wonder! The book completely swallowed me up for a couple of days and left me thinking about it long after I finished. Bravo! Standing Ovation needed! My sincere wish is for this novel to win a prestigious award, become a classic for future generations to come, and to be made into a spectacular feature film! Robert Dinsdale’s The Toymakers will simply without a doubt take your breath away!

There are strong characters here taken through a good story. I found myself caring a great deal about them and that’s what kept me pushing through until the end. What gave me pause was the details to the actions of the magical toys. This greatly slowed the stories progress in too many sections of the book. There is also a hole concerning Cathy and her family that never gets resolved.

This is a great story of a magical toy store, love, betrayal, loyalty.two brothers live with and work for their father, an old eccentric man who has the gift of making toys come alive. The store is only open for about a month, come first frost. It’s every person’s dream come true. Along comes a girl in need of food, shelter, a job. This is their story-the girl and two brothers. And how family dynamics change as time moves. At times bitter, sweet, sad, happy, feel good.

This book started out amazing. I couldn't put it down. Was content to spend the day reading the book. Like I said it started out great. Cathy running away from home to lose herself in London at the turn of the 1900's gets a job at a magical toy store where it seems like every winter is filled with magic. The owner is a man who sounds very much like Santa. We meet the owners two boys, one of which is so vibrant that he not only brings the store to life but the story as well. Secrets are kept that need to be told and you found yourself rooting for Cathy and the two boys, each one trying to make the most magical if toys.Then we skip ahead and World War One starts and the magic that filled the story is gone as boys go off to war and what we are left with us a story with no heart. We have to read about things like PTSD and stores who once did great business suddenly start to lose customers as the world becomes modern and the simple toys that filled us with hours of delight no longer interest our children. A character that filled the pages suddenly is no longer the main character and the book suffers because you really never get to know or care about the rest of the characters.

For me, this was a rare and special fantasy. It passes a rare bar: the magic is real and substantial and has an integrity....it's not just bunch of literary special effects, a clanking let-there-be-magic magic, but a magic that lives and breathes and grows and is real...the secret magic at the heart of our difficult mundane worldAnd it plays wonderfully well with two literary devices: the Cain and Abel myth (though Cain does not kill Abel, but immures him, from which his love eventually delivers him) and the Toymaker. The toymaker, a disguised Creator (that watchmaker that the evangelical like to posit) who makes worlds where discord turns to concord...and recreates the magic of the heart.

The story begins with 15 year old pregnant runaway Cathy Wray, seeking employment and refuge at Papa Jack's Emporium. This renowned London toy shop is like no-other; opening its doors at first frost, children and adults alike marvel at the wondrous creations within - patchwork dogs, paper trees, not to mention the store's infamous toy soldiers- the Emporium is a place of magic to delight all, till its doors close with the bloom of the first snowdrops. Then only Papa Jack and his two sons remain, locked up in their workshops, busily creating the next year's wonders.It is into this world that Cathy enters, her life thereafter never to be the same as she learns the Emporium's secrets, the horrors that still haunt Papa Jack, the Long War that is played between his sons Kaspar and Emil Godman, 2 brothers who couldn't be any more unlike each other, and whose rivalry will stretch into the long years ahead. These years take us through 2 World Wars as we follow the Godman family through times of trouble and heartache, bitterness and jealousy, separation and betrayal.It is difficult to truly describe this quite extraordinary book, which is a wonderful mixture of historical fiction, magical realism and a family saga. There are so many different elements and concepts to the story and yet somehow they all mesh perfectly together. Its a story of the innocence of childhood and of the horrors of war, of human foibles and forgiveness, free will and the choices we make; there's romance, sibling rivalary, magic, as well as interesting questions posed about self-awareness and what it means to be alive.The story itself is beautifully written, with magical descriptions that bring the Emporium to life and capture the imagination; and there's a wonderful contrast of light and shade to the story.The first part of the story set before WW1 was perhaps my favourite part, and certainty the most magical as the reader is first introduced to the Emporium. The second and third parts of the book see the story darkening, even the Emporium itself declining. At times these parts of the book were harder to read, some parts especially bleak, however, I appreciated the themes these later parts of the story touched on, such as PTSD, and thought they were effectively and emotionally conveyed.The characters, especially the principal ones, are all memorable; and even some of the toys such as Sirius, the patchwork dog, and the Imperial Kapitan strike an impression. The relationship between Kaspar and Emil, is one that is at the heart of the story, and is a complex one. Both characters have their flaws, and it was possible to relate to them both, particularly at the start of the story. As the book progressed, however, I found myself siding with one of the brothers more and more, the other harder to sympathise with, and by the end of the book I found I could not quite forgive his actions.Overall a completely captivating read, wonderfully imaginative, and full of nostalgia, with a lot of heart.

J’ai adorée.

Want to be transported to a whole new world? Read this book. At first I didn't think I'd be into it but shrugged and went for it, completely don't regret it one bit. The ending was mind blowing.

A convoluted tale of damaged people Learning to live again.. Amazing. Magic warmth and lifeRescue an umarried mother and her daughter grows up Happy and secure until it all falls apart. Much later a happy ending is delivered.

Utterly enchanting! The language is very easy and yet very spellbinding. I felt the book to be a bit boring at times but all over it was soothing. The Toymakers is a very Christmassy read and will give you complete English vibes. This book is definitely underrated and deserves more love!!