I wanted Sophie to be quite normal, in contrast to the other family members, but her courage and determination are the things I most admire about her, as well as her commitment to find out what happened to her friend. I’d originally intended for the dolls to be voodoo dolls but it was hard to get too excited about this because they’ve been done so many times before. Frozen Charlotte dolls are quite unique, and not all that many people seem to know about them, so I thought they’d be more interesting. I devoured this book in one day. It was so much fun... I want to get a crate of Frozen Charlottes, a box of these books and give one to everyone I know at Hallowe'en -- C Smyth NetGalley I could almost imagine this book being played out as a movie, one with a lot of silence and creep-up-on-you scenes. Reading In Between the Lines

It’s commonly accepted that these dolls were didactic tools, physical representations of the consequences of parental disobedience. It’s widely believed that Victorian children were well-aware of the origin story of these dolls and played with them nonetheless. After all, many aspects of Victorian culture are openly macabre and death-obsessed, so this grisly historical narrative isn’t entirely outlandish. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Penny’s sleepy little farming town hasn’t been the same since it was terrorized by a masked killer who claimed five teenage victims last Halloween. So, while it makes a compelling and delightfully morbid origin story, none of the children who actually played with these dolls knew of a connection between their favorite toy and a foolish young woman’s frostbitten corpse. And even though they’ve lost a bit of their historical creepiness, don’t let that stop you from being excited if you find a porcelain doll on the shore. They’re still strangely beautiful, wonderfully creepy, and rare.

This feels like such a great introduction to horror for teens. What is it about horror that appeals to you? Have you always been a fan?

The inspiration for Sophie’s character really came from a lot of gothic romances I’ve read by writers such as Victoria Holt and Madeleine Brent. These often involve a fairly ordinary heroine finding herself in extraordinary surroundings where she has to deal with strange/fascinating/eccentric characters who most often have various dark secrets. There’s very much a sense of not knowing who to trust and things not being as they seem in this type of book, and I really enjoy that kind of ambiguity as a reader. I stumbled across the Frozen Charlotte dolls whilst doing research online one day and the idea for the story basically came from there. I thought they were so deliciously creepy and unusual, as well as not being all that well known, so it seemed like a great starting point for a horror novel. I didn’t know exactly how things were going to play out before I started but I had a rough idea. I prefer not to plan my books in too much detail but I do like to know how the book will end. They’re stanzas from the Fair Charlotte poem by Seba Smith. The poem first appeared in 1843 with the title: A Corpse Going To A Ball. This was rumoured to be based on an article about a real life event that appeared in a New York newspaper in 1840, but that hasn’t been substantiated as far as I know. After Sophie’s best friend dies in a tragic accident, she travels to the isle of Skye in Scotland to visit her relatives, who live there in an old, possibly haunted mansion. My favourite scene in the book is probably the end scene in the schoolhouse – and also the bathroom scene – but I can’t say too much about those without giving away spoilers!

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To that end she eagerly started a Law Degree only to find it so boring that she was at a very real risk of going completely insane. To mitigate this she started writing again. The second book got her an agent with Carolyn Whitaker of London Independent Books but, unfortunately, not a publisher. The third book, written during her first summer holidays off from university, found a home with Gollancz. The Ninth Circle came out in April 2008 with possibly the most beautiful cover ever created (matched only by her second book, Jasmyn). The name of the doll originates from the American folk ballad Fair Charlotte, based on the poem "A Corpse Going to a Ball" [1] by Seba Smith, which tells of a young girl called Charlotte who refused to wrap up warmly to go on a sleigh ride because she did not want to cover up her pretty dress; she froze to death during the journey. [2] I also researched Ouija boards and old schoolhouses. The research was definitely the creepiest part of the process, especially all the stuff I read about haunted dolls. Some of them look terrifying as well! I had to try to put it all out of my mind before turning out the light to go to bed, but I have to admit to being generally more easily startled whilst I’m writing a horror novel!

Denise Van Patten. "An Introduction to Bisque Dolls - About.com". About. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07.

The revelation of how the evil little Frozen Charlotte dolls came to have their power is unsettling and chilling, and reading parts of this late at night in a quiet house I ... admit to looking over my shoulder more than once!... I'd love to see more historical type novels from Alex Bell in future, and eagerly await her next offering. -- Michelle Harrison author of The Thirteen Treasures Dolls with china heads, 1750-1870, Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium. Jointed doll and penny dolls, Kirsti Scott. Porcelain doll arms, Marylou Forrest.