I’m afraid I had to stop reading this book. Macneal has skilfully recreated London of 1850, and Iris is an appealing character. However, as the book progressed we spent more time with Silas, who has become obsessed with Iris. Silas is a taxidermist, and extremely disturbed, and the incidents involving animal cruelty were too much for me. I suppose my distress indicates what a clever writer Macneal is, however, I didn’t want to spend any more evenings in the company of the very creepy Silas!