What’s it all about?:
1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the reader on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles long-standing traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.
What did I think?:
I think this book has to win a prize based on that beautiful cover art alone, right? It’s absolutely stunning and has been staring at me from my shelves for the longest time. You know when you have a book on your TBR that you keep looking at but is almost too beautiful to read even though you’re eagerly anticipating it? (Maybe that’s just me then?!) Well, that’s what The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street was to me. My boyfriend had already listened to it on audio book and kept telling me that I needed to read this novel, I would love it but for some reason I kept hesitating. Thank goodness I’ve finally given in to my own hype and cracked it open because what I found within was truly wonderful and I’m still thinking about it now, weeks after finishing it, it made that big of an impression on me.
It’s approaching the end of the nineteenth century and our main character, Thaniel Steepleton is working at the Home Office in London as a telegraph operator. He is living in dangerous times where a rebel group of Irish terrorists, the Fenian Brotherhood are setting off bombs all across London. In fact, he almost loses his life to one of these bombs if it were not for a mysterious gold pocket watch that he finds in his bedroom one night that begins alarming just before the bomb explodes giving him time to leave the building and cheat certain death. Fascinated by the watch and how it came to be in his possession, he tracks down the watch-maker, one Keita Mori, a Japanese immigrant who has an intriguing back story all of his own and is wonderfully talented in the making of clockwork mechanisms, including Katsu, a rather annoying (but incredibly endearing) sock stealing, mechanical octopus. This is the story of the relationship between Thaniel and Keita but also of Thaniel’s relationship with Grace Carrow, a young scientist who tests his loyalty and bond with Keita in numerous ways.
The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street has such a convoluted plot that I’m very wary of going into too much detail. The beauty with a story like this is definitely discovering all the magical twists and turns and divine mixture of fact and fantasy for yourself. At times, it really is a slow burner of a novel – don’t expect much action or thrills if you decide to read this but this is more a story to be savoured, to understand and enjoy the delicious characters that Natasha Pulley has created and to marvel at all the small details you could easily miss if you weren’t fully invested in the story. Believe me, I was fully invested and at times completely overwhelmed with how gorgeous both the plot and the characters were. It gets complicated at times, that’s for sure but I thoroughly enjoyed the directions the author chose to take her characters in (which were wholly unexpected at points!). I fell head over heels in love with the writing, with Thaniel, Keita and Grace and in particular, with a certain clockwork octopus called Katsu where I fully believe that I desperately need one for myself! I’m so excited to find out that this is going to be a series, the next book is called Pepperharrow and is due for release by Bloomsbury at some point in 2018. I honestly can’t wait – I need it like right now.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
