Product Description
An abduction, a series of interviews, an investigation with unthinkable outcomes.
Contemporary Gothic at its most inventive: at times, a psychological drama; at times, a tragedy embodying the grotesque and the horrific.
The Boy Who Loved Dolls is set in 1987 Australia, mainly at the renowned (and reclusive) French film director, Jean-Jacques Baille’s secluded country residence. Susan Vaughan, an eccentric young film critic and independent documentary-maker, is granted a once-in-a-lifetime chance to conduct a series of video-taped interviews staying with her long-term ‘cultural icon’. Unknown to her she learns that he is also an obsessive collector and restorer of rare and, at times, unnerving dolls.
What starts out as an in-depth investigation into the themes, techniques and patterns within his ground-breaking work – many featuring his Australian-born wife Anna – and a probing dissection of his most recent semi-biographical film – slowly turns into a cat-and-mouse game in which we find Baille is leading Susan towards his hidden past and the truth behind his wife’s disappearance.
“I don’t know why [Scott] is not numbered up there with the Flanagans and Careys, because, like them, he writes across a number of genres and takes risks. And like them, he keeps me coming back for more.” Janine Rizzetti, residentjudge.com
John A. Scott, as twice winner of the Victorian Premier’s Prize…’twice shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award place[s] his work among the cream of Australia’s literary talent’. The Orphic Journey of John A. Scott, Peter D. Mathews.
