The Boy Who Loved Dolls
by John A. Scott
Puncher & Wattmann
The prologue of this hyper-suspenseful novel presents an unsolved mystery that permeates the entire narrative. The horrific psychological drama begins in 1984, when a car transporting Anna Baille to her Mount Macedon home along an isolated country road is stopped by armed men.
Anna, the Australian-born wife of renowned and reclusive French film director Jean-Jacques Baille, is never seen again, but her presence echoes through every page. Three years later, independent documentary maker and film critic Susan Vaughan is granted the opportunity to interview Baille.
Staying at the Mount Macedon mansion with Baille and his efficient housekeeper, Adèle, Susan conducts a series of videotaped interviews with her gracious host. Initially, her prepared questions focus on his groundbreaking films featuring Anna.
Then, one particular film, made 18 months after Anna’s disappearance and featuring a look-alike actress in her place, becomes the centre of attention. When Baille tells Susan that the film was “to say things that must be said”, she begins searching for clues to uncover the truth behind Anna’s disappearance.
With access to copies of his films and an editing suite that allows for detailed analysis, Susan digs beneath the polished surface of a film about an artist named Christophe and his muse. At the same time, the narrative reveals deeper layers of Susan Vaughan herself.
Baille’s life is meticulously ordered, and he spends every free afternoon repairing and restoring his collection of rare and sometimes disturbing dolls, which he refers to as his “children”. Suspense builds as Susan moves beyond simply interviewing her subject and becomes determined to uncover the truth about Anna’s disappearance.
This contemporary Gothic horror novel builds in intensity as Scott intersperses the omniscient narrative with transcripts of interviews with Baille and others involved in the making of the film. Finally, letters provide further clues before a recorded testament exposes the story’s darkest outcome.
The Boy Who Loved Dolls is a thrillingly accomplished novel with many more layers than a straightforward investigation into a three-year-old abduction mystery.
Lezly Herbert
