The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: The extraordinary, imaginative, magical debut novel

Natasha Pulley

Jul 2015 · Bloomsbury Publishing USA

About this ebook

For readers of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, an enchanting, bestselling novel that sweeps readers into a magical Victorian London inhabited by a clockwork octopus and a mysterious watchmaker who is not at all what he first appears.

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.

Ratings and reviews

The Watchmaker on Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley is a Victorian steampunk mystery novel. Nathaniel “Thaniel” Steepleton is a telegraph operator at Whitehall (government). He has held the position for the last four years. Thaniel prefers playing the piano, but it did not pay enough to support himself and his widowed sister, Annabel (who lives in Edinburgh with her two sons). The government have been receiving threats of bombs from Clan na Gael. Everyone is on alert and preparing for the worst. One night Thaniel arrives home to his room at the boarding house to find the door open, the dishes done and put away (not by the landlady). Thaniel then spies a gift box with his name on it. Inside is a beautiful pocket watch. It does not open and he cannot hear it working. Two months later it starts working and saves Thaniel. A loud noise comes from the watch making him go outside and saves him from a bomb. Thaniel goes looking for the creator of the watch. Grace Carrow is at the end of her fourth and final year at Oxford. She has a beautiful watch with filigree that looks like swallows flying. Grace inherited a house from her aunt, but she cannot have it unless she marries (it is being held in trust by her father). Grace loves science. She wants to do research and to teach. Her mother, Lady Carrow is determined Grace will marry and make a good match. Grace has money, a house, and needs a husband who will allow her experiments. Thaniel and Grace are destined to meet for good or for bad? Keita Moiri makes items out of clockworks. He made the watch for Thaniel and Grace. He has many beautiful items in his shop. There is also a clockwork octopus named Katsu. Katsu likes to live in a dresser drawer and steal socks. Keita has a special talent. Thaniel is not sure what to make of Keita when he first meets him. He thinks Keita might be behind the bombings (the maker of the bombs). Thaniel is tasked with keeping an eye on Keita and to get evidence. Keita has a room to rent and Thaniel moves in (Katsu really likes Thaniel’s dresser). Thaniel really gets to know Keita and finds out about his talent (and innocence). Thaniel now has to save Keita from the police (who are determined to pin the bombings on him) and find the real culprit. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a complicated novel. I have only given you a small snippet of what happens in the novel. It is an interesting book, but there are too many ideas shoved into one story (hard to keep track of all the characters and everything that is going on). There are also a lot of technical, scientific terms and explanations that will give you a headache. The book gets better towards the end (if you get that far) and the identity of the bomb maker is easily figured out. What Grace does, though, is definitely a shock and unexpected (sorry, spoiler)! I give The Watchmaker of Filigree Street 3.5 out of 5 stars. I received a complimentary copy of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.

I love this book. I remember right after I read it, the very next day I picked it back up and read the whole thing again, and I was glad for it, because there are so many subtle hints and bits of foreshadowing leading up to the climax. The romance took me by surprise, because earlier in the book I had thought it might have been cute but didn't expect the author would have actually followed through on it, but lo and behold, she did it. This book isn't for everyone-- it starts off a bit slow, the main conflict isn't fully clear until later on when you have all the pieces, and some parts may not make sense if you'd accidentally missed a detail that came before. But the writing is beautiful, the characters complex and diverse, and the story rich in a quiet sort of way. This book has magic. Give it a try.

Is a true Victorian fantasy book that is actually over 350 pages !! The fantasy element is really engaging , I highly recomend it.

About the author

Natasha Pulley is the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Bedlam Stacks, and The Lost Future of Pepperharrow. She lives in England.