The Magic Toyshop

The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

This novel was languishing on one of my bookshelves and I featured it last week in my first hiding-in-the-bookshelves post. It's a short book and I was able to read it over the weekend. The copy I have proudly boasts "now a spellbinding film" and I have to say I really have no idea how The Magic Toyshop would come off as a film and I can't imagine one that stayed true to the story being described as spellbinding. Yes, some scenes could be seen as spellbinding, but darkness pervades the novel. For example, the puppets in their intricacy and beauty could be magical, but they are so closely associated with Uncle Philip and his abusiveness that at least to me they are horribly tarnished.

I didn't particularly like The Magic Toyshop. It's not that The Magic Toyshop is poorly written or anything like that, it's just that I couldn't really appreciate it given my mood.