A Little Princess is a novel full of references to fashion and dolls. Sarah chooses her doll Emily very carefully and treats her like a real person; Emily even has a full wardrobe of specially made clothes. Dolls in A Little Princess raise questions about a girl's identity and role in life.

In Dickens's Our Mutual Friend, doll-maker Jenny Wren is mysterious and enigmatic. Jenny is a pretty blonde with magical golden hair and a deformed body, who has the amazing ability to make dolls look like real women.

Going out into the dangerous London night, Jenny memorizes the gowns and capes worn by the ladies of the London elite and makes exact copies for her own dolls.

At the same time, Jenny is able in the end to make her own destiny and move away from a painful life to independence and romance. In Byatt's Possession, the doll in Christabel La Motte's room holds a powerful secret for 150 years.

For me, one of the most beautiful descriptions of a doll in literature is in Colleen McCullough's Thorn Birds, for Meggie's doll Agnes. The doll is first destroyed and then made up again, perhaps like Meggie herself. As for Esther Summerson's buried doll in Dickens's Bleak House, she is a symbol of poor Esther's childhood pain.

Dolls in books share the painful reality of their owners. Given the chance, would they come alive and share our world? This is a question Sarah the little princess also tries to answer ... ;-)