Plantaganet when it turns out that the inherited dollhouse is dusty, rundown with age and desperately needs to be refurbished, the advent of Marchpane, and especially the ending (and what happens to poor Birdie), all this really does make me rather cringe a bit.
Innisfree keeps her safe and even tells the Queen of England that Tottie is not for sale), the constant griping of especially Apple and Mr. Now while I do appreciate that Tottie, Birdie and the other dolls manage to obtain their cherished dollhouse (and also have indeed much enjoyed reading both about how Charlotte and Emily actively proceed trying to earn the necessary funds to refurbish, to renovate the dollhouse they have inherited and about Tottie's sojourn at the exhibition and that Mrs.
Plantaganet are more than a bit angry at and frustrated with Emily and Charlotte and that their love for the two is somewhat tempered by the lack of a dolls' house and even potentially reliant on the procuration of the same). And on an entirely and emotionlessly intellectual level, especially considering that the book was published in 1947 and thus very soon after the end of WWII, the narrative emphasis presented by the author on mortality, on making do with what one has, even on mending and being of an accepting if not actually forgiving spirit, does strongly and realistically reflect its time and place (and that the latter, especially considering the horrors of WWII, is also very much laudable and heartening).īut all that being said and on a personal and yes emotional level, I do in fact feel somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that while the two little girls who are the owners of the dolls, while Charlotte and Emily Dane, clearly much love them and try to provide their cherished toys with the best kind of domicile they (and by extension their family) can at this time manage and afford (even if this consists of plain shoe cartons), the dolls (Tottie and the others) not only clearly and understandingly long for and desire a real dolls' house, they also (at least to and for me) almost seem actively unhappy with Emily and Charlotte and even at times resentful of them and the fact that they have only managed to provide them with shoe cartons as living quarters (there is a distinct and rather sadly palpable feeling emanating from the printed words, from the text of The Dolls' House that the dolls, and that especially Tottie and Mr. I realise and also do much appreciate that Rumer Godden's The Dolls' House is considered a classic and seems much loved by many.
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