Elizabeth Macneal

Elizabeth Macneal is a Scottish author and ceramicist who specialises in historical fiction. Her best-known works include The Doll Factory (2019), Circus of Wonders (2021) and The Burial Plot (2024). Her debut novel won the Caledonia Novel Award and became a Sunday Times bestseller. The story has been adapted into a TV series, which is available to watch on Paramount+.

Elizabeth Macneal was born in Scotland and studied English Literature at university. She later completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Alongside her writing, she works as a potter in a studio in her garden. Her ceramics have been featured on BBC1's Britain's Best Home Cook and are part of the Museum of London's permanent collection.

She published The Doll Factory in 2019. The novel follows a young woman’s artistic ambitions in Victorian London and the growing obsession of a man with her. Translated into 29 languages, the story received widespread attention, including being selected for the Radio 2 Book Club and being featured on Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime.

Her second novel, Circus of Wonders (2021), also became a Sunday Times bestseller. It was named Book of the Month by the Sunday Times. In interviews, Macneal often discusses combining her interest in art with dark Victorian settings.

Her most recent book, The Burial Plot (2024), is a gothic thriller set in 1839. It follows Bonnie and Crawford, two con artists who make their living from death and deceit. After a man is found dead, Bonnie escapes into a new life as a lady's maid. She enters a house in mourning, filled with secrets and strange behaviour. As she learns more about the Moncrieff family, she begins to fear that she has been brought there for a reason.

Photo credit: elizabethmacneal.com