A wonderful, magical tale set in Papa Jack's emporium, telling his story and that of of his family. brilliantly written, taking the reader to a wonderful land of make believe.

Papa Jack owned the Emporium in London. It was opened on the first frosty day of every winter for the children to see the illuminated garlands in the store. It was like the magic kingdom, full of moving toys such as marching soldiers, roaming animals and moving trains – awing the young visitors.

Papa Jack had two sons, named Kasper and Emil, to whom he gave a set of soldiers who obeyed their commands.

Cathy gave birth to Martha out of wedlock. Her mother tried to give the new baby to the Orphan Home.

One day, Cathy saw an advertisement for an assistant to help Papa Jack at the emporium. So, she ran away from her home, while pregnant with Martha to work at the store where the magical adventure awaited.

This was a lovely story about the family who ran the store in London for nearly fifty years, through the two great wars and had shocking twists nearing the end of the story in the magical “kingdom” of toys. This should be the Christmas movie.

Caesar 13

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I'm actually a little taken aback by how much I really enjoyed this one. I'd heard of Robert Dinsdale's work, in fact, I'd been hankering to read 'Gingerbread' for some time. I was thrilled to be offered the chance to read this book, especially as it felt like such a festive read! Toy shops are certainly the most magical place during Christmas time and I wanted a book that would take me back to my childhood. This certainly did that!

The plot concept of this book was a really good one - set in the enchanting Papa Jack's Emporium, his two sons play a constant, childish game known as 'the long war' representative of their desperation to be the favourite. Cathy Wray's POV makes a lovely 'neutral' viewpoint, and what I loved most of all was that each son was credible in his own way. There's a clear 'good' and 'bad' guy, but at the same time, there sort of isn't. Kaspar IRRITATED me to begin with, and I felt sorry for the often forgotten and downtrodden Emil. As time went on, Kaspar became more sensible and grounded, while Emil grew childish and a little obsessive. Dinsdale did a great job at illustrating the effects that past events, trauma and new characters had on each character (and the Emporium itself, which is very much it's own character too).

I enjoyed everything about this book. The characters were well-constructed, events such as WWI were integrated in a believable way, and many of the twists and turns left me reeling. Especially at the end (I actually audibly gasped when it dawned on me what the toys were trying to tell Cathy, I did NOT see that coming), though I did feel that the way it ended was a little unsatisfying considering the story-long build-up. There are many gorgeous quotes and lessons to be learned about humanity here too, and I adored the toy soldier sub-plot towards the end. Dinsdale's gorgeous writing has very much made it's mark on me. I'll definitely be getting round to 'Gingerbread' a lot sooner!

The book was a surprise and a delight, resonating strongly with me. It had the feel of a late Victorian idyllic Christmas, as well as reminding both of Morgernstern's The Night Circus and that bizarre fairytale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. And yet it isn't really like any of those things, being very much its own book. It is a family sage looking at Kaspar and Emil's struggle for control of the toy Emporium, covering two world wars and beyond. A difficult book to describe, the Toymakers was both enchanting and heart rending. Simply wonderful.

It’s 1917 and pregnant teenager Cathy Wray seeks sanctuary at a London toy store. She soon discovers that these toys are unlike any she’s ever seen before. There’s a clockwork dog that’s devoted to his master, paper trees that grow from seed, and toy soldiers that wage battles on their own. Cathy learns to call The Emporium home, and the people who own it her family. But then the First World War breaks out, and nothing will ever be quite as magical again. Veering from childlike wonderment, to the bleakness of war, The Toymakers is a must for fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus.

I was looking forward to this book about a magical Christmas Emporium that opens at the first frost and closes at the first snowdrop, and sells all kinds of amazing toys.
Cathy, a pregnant teenage runaway comes to work there, and stays, living in a Wendy house that is bigger on the inside than the outside.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the toys, and loved Sirius the patchwork dog. Papa Jack, the owner had a tragic back story which was beautifully told, and explained his love of toys.

But, I just couldn’t believe in Cathy, and the brothers Emil and Kaspar, who were waging a toy soldier war against each other, and by the time I got halfway through, I had lost all interest, and didn’t even read ahead to the end.
A potentially good book, but not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Truly magical!! Absorbing and intricate tale which wraps itself around you and draws you in. From the very nature of the toy shop which opens at the first frost, everything about this story is a little bit special. The only part that didn’t work for me was when there was a battle of good vs evil (very allegorical) which I thought was going to become rather religious or instructive (as in CS Lewis’ books)... but as it wasn’t the ending as I had suspected, this was almost forgotten in the next phase of the book.

Stunningly descriptive and imaginative, this magical book will not appeal to everyone. But it is a delight for those who are open to being charmed by its tale.

5* - a book I will remember for a long time to come...

I was immediately drawn to the striking cover of The Toymakers and decided to read this on the run up to Christmas to inject a little magic into my life. I didn't expect to feel so emotional at the end but the power of Robert Dinsdale's writing clearly worked its way into my heart like a toy soldier scaling a battlement. Don't be mistaken: this is not solely a magical feel-good story, it is mainly set during World War I so be prepared for loss and devastation but you can forget about it for a while when you enter Papa Jack's Emporium.

The Emporium is hidden away down a side street in London and you could easily walk past it, if you didn't know it was there. This magical toy shop opens at first frost and closes as the first snowdrop flowers but in the short time it is open you can find every toy imaginable in its four walls, but even more toys that you could never have imagined. Papa Jack and his sons, Kaspar and Emil, create all the toys themselves and there's quite a rivalry between the boys as to whose toys are the best.

Cathy Wray is drawn to the Emporium after she sees an advert in the newspaper, just when she thought she could not escape her predicament. So she runs away from home and starts a job in the Emporium, but when the first snowdrop flowers she has nowhere to go and hides in the wendy house in the Emporium. Both brothers find her at different times and keep it a secret from each other as their rivalry extends to who will win Cathy's heart. After the war, this intense rivalry threatens to be the downfall of the Emporium when Kaspar meddles with Emil's precious toy soldiers...the toy soldiers don't want to fight anymore and seem to have minds of their own. Can the Emporium ever survive when Kaspar, Emil and thousands of toy soldiers are at loggerheads and Hitler's bombs are flying overhead?

Let your imagination run wild and expect the unexpected in The Toymakers. My imagination went into overdrive and I thought of those horrific Chucky movies as the toy soldiers were scuttling about all over the place. I found it terribly heartbreaking as the horrors of the First World War were touched on and hoped the soldiers had somebody like Kaspar in the trenches with them to give them some comfort.

The Toymakers wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The Emporium is painted in such glorious colour through the magical prose that I felt as if I was visiting it myself. I think The Toymakers is a little like the Emporium itself, it's only going to be enjoyable to those who believe in magic but know that the big bad world is right outside the door.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

This is the most amazing book I have read.
It works on so many levels.lt brings out the childhood in the reader and transports the reader back to their childhood memories when one Is discovering the world and all it has to offer and ones imagination has no limits.
It deals with sibling rivalry and how if let to fester it can become destructive and macabre,
Set against the First World War it acts as an allegory with the long war the children in the emporium played out with the toy soldiers and what was happening in real life.
It deals with all human emotions love, greed, jealousy making it very thought provoking.
A masterpiece most likely the book of 2018. I cannot praise it enough.
People who like to analyse books will read so much into it as a social commentary of that time.

This is a magical tale of the powers of the imagination. I was captivated by the description of the Emporium. There’s such a clever parallel between the wonder within and the horror without (the World Wars) that brings a poignancy to the novel. Admittedly, in the latter third my interest started to wain slightly, but that just reflects how time feels to the characters themselves as the Emporium slides further into decay. Overall a beautifully crafted book.

To say the The Toy Makers is about toy makers is a bit like saying Alice In Wonderland is about a girl. This to me had all the magical qualities of anything Lewis Carroll wrote - it is truly a magical book on so many levels.
It has been compared to The Night Circus but I disagree this is so much better on so many levels. The Toy Emporium is no doubt somewhere we all dream of visiting with magical toys being created. It is hard to say to much without spoiling the book. It follows one girls journey through her life and the two toy makers that impact on it. The story starts before World War One and follows the girl and the intertwining stories through this period and beyond.
I can not praise this book highly enough. It will be the talked about book of 2018 and by word of mouth I predict everyone will be reading it. The word masterpiece is rarely used but in this case it is justified.

This was not what I was expecting from the blurb. I was thinking it would be a light-hearted and magical Christmas read but it turned out to have a lot more depth to it and be a whole lot darker than I thought.

It starts out as a magical Christmassy story. Cathy is pregnant and running away from her family who want her to give up her baby. She sees an advert in the paper for The Emporium, a toy shop, and instinctively feels that it's the answer to all her problems. When she arrives she finds that the shop is full of magic and wonder and finds a place to raise her baby in safety.

The two brothers Kasper and Emil are at war with each other. They have been playing what they call the Long War since they were little, battling against each other with toy soldiers. They are also competing over who can create the best toys, the most magical, the ones that sell the best.

Emil takes the contest very seriously because as the younger brother he has always felt inferior to the confident and gifted Kasper. The toy soldiers he makes are the only way he can live up to the abilities of his father and his brother.

When Cathy arrives at the Emporium Kasper and Emil also fight for her attention, even when the arrival of her baby force the two boys to begin to grow up. The intrusion of the first World War causes a further rift between the brothers.

The author has created some interesting characters but they mostly feel flat and two dimensional. The female characters especially have no personality, we have The Martyr in Cathy who spends her life working for the happiness of the people she loves, and The Harpy in Nina, who berates Emil constantly. Both exist only to cause conflict in the men. Cathy is the supporter who cares for Kasper after the war and Nina pushes Emil to the edge so he has to take desperate measures.

The magical feel of the book starts to fade as the family deal with the effects of war and what's left behind is quite dark and depressing. Cathy is the main character in the book but she doesn't have the personality to carry the story or shine a light through the dark places.

A heartbreaking read but it aims higher than it reaches and the characters are too flat to hold interest.

This was a fun read and reminded me a lot of Charlie and the Chocolate factory vibe though. The style of writing was just ok for me as I wasn't connecting well with characters and so not the best but still an ok read at this time of the year (December).

Thank you Netgalley for my review copy

It is not very often that a book speaks to my very soul but this was one. From the very beginning, I was in a world alive with hope and wonder and it dragged me in fully. I was so moved by the story and I felt like a kid again with all of the imagery and wondrous scenes described in front of me. This is a perfect book for Christmas (or any time of year) and moved me to tears at multiple points and full laughter at more.
Loved, loved, loved it! Will definitely read more by this author.

If you're the kind of person who is very young at heart, then you will fall in love with this novel. It's full of magical realism, everyone's dream of toys coming to life and infinite toy boxes and tiny doll houses.

That being said, this book does explore death, the meaning of family, and war. 

There's a beautiful balance of how life "outside" of the toy store can affect the life inside.

This is a large,long story,but full of surprises. The Toy Emporium,known as Papa Jack's has all sorts of magical toys, but is most famous for its toy soldiers. Papa Jack, is Jacob Goldman, who is an unusual man, who has known a lot of hardship in his life, but he has adopted two orphan boys, Kasper and Emil. Kasper builds very unusual toys, like a wendy house, that is bigger on the inside than the outside., but Emil is obssessed with toy soldiers, and creates battle scene on the shop floor.
Into the mix comes Catherine, who is 15, a runaway, who is 15 and pregnant. She replies to an advert in the paper (passed to her by her sister) for work in the Emporium.irst Emil, then Kasper help her and she delivers a daughter, unbeknown to Jacob.
The story develops around the first world war, whe Kasper goes away with the army, but Emil is rejected because of his health. This makes him very bitter, and even more determined to make more soldiers. When Kasper returns, he is weak, suffering from shel-shock, and also very disturbed. He laters the soldiers, so they surrenders, which makes the customers and Emil very angry.
This novel is a tour de force. It includes family rivalry, the strain of war, magic realism, and the power of toys have on children, and to sooth adults as well. I feel very priveledged to have read this, which leads you on and on, wanting to know what happens next. Many thanks to the publisher, and to Net Galley for allowing me to read it.

I don’t usually read books that are set in the past , but this dark , gripping Magical , story full of intrigue surpassed all expectations !

Wow - just wow!
If you, as an adult, still enjoy reading your childhood favourites, here is a book just for the grown-up you.
Robert Dinsdale has created a magical world that, throughout the years, just keeps on giving and giving, right until the very last, wonderful, page.
I truly feel that I have just read a brand new classic. A decades-spanning saga full of magic, romance (in the old-fashioned sense), war and peace (with peace in war and war in peace). Wonka, Potter and The Nutcracker all rolled into one.
When is the film coming out? (Please!)
I've not written my feature/blog yet - I have just read the last word and needed to have a bit of gush!
How wonderful...

I love a bit of magical realism and The Toymakers didn’t disappoint.....to begin with. It’s 1907 and 16 year old Cathy Wray is pregnant and has nowhere to turn. She finds herself drawn to The Emporium, a toy shop of wonder and renown. Here she finds a home with a family of Toymakers who bring magic to their aisles.
While the novel seems light in context, there is a much more profound side.
The book is extremely well written and is as expected, magical and heart warming but also dark and sinister. I really enjoyed the exploration of sibling rivalry and the apparent theme of light and dark. The first half of the book was excellent, truly magical and loved the how the Emporium came to like. The second half for me dragged a little and had to push through. Whereas the beautiful description of the toys in the first half were engaging, in the second half the passages became a little overly descriptive and a little hard going.
It is a book full of fantasy and magic and explores themes such as life, love and free will and teaches that your imagination can have no limit.
I did enjoy this book and would recommend but probably best to read in small bites. 3.5

This is the ultimate Christmas story. Not just because it is a story in which Christmas plays an essential part. A large part of the story has nothing to do with the 25th of December, but with everything we associate with Christmas: family, friends, presents, food.
In this story, family and toys play the essential part, the really magical part. For the toys in this story seem to become alive. Or their own free will? Or through the hands of Jecob and his sons Emil and Kaspar?
The story spans over 50 years in time, and the Great War plays and essential role. For one of the main characters, one of the sons, returns from this Great War not being himself anymore. Just like his father before him, he was changed by the horrors he saw, the pain he felt.
When Jecob returned to his sons after so many years, he was changed for the better. With the son that returns from the Great War, it is not so.
But not only the son, but the toys that were made by the son have changed. And not for the better too.

The Toymakers is quite an unusal story because it starts out as a story about a toyshop and then gradually turns into a story of hopes and dreams and especially magic. Now I've never liked stories about magical toys but this one is very special. It made me actually want to have one of the toys. Besides the toys there are other beautiful things in the book. A Wendy House that is bigger inside than outside; paper trees that actually grow; a dog made of fabric and buttons that lives on forever and ever; and of course a toy chest that changes everything, including the end of the story.

It is beautifully written, very intriguing and magical..

Thank you NetGalley for this book.