The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

First of all… this book has got some serious cover goals!! This book popped up in my recommendations from amazon and I’m glad it popped up.

A mysterious watch that is left in Thaniel’s room ends up saving his life. When Thaniel meets the watchmaker; Mori, his life changes completely. Mori is a clairvoyant with a knack for creating the most incredible mechanical objects, from pears, to fairies and even an octopus called Katsu…. *holds hands up*… my brain kept going to Wagamama’s chicken katsu curry. Whilst Mori is fully aware, he can only watch on as Thaniel meets Grace and they begin an odd relationship that leads to a doomed marriage.

This book is based in the 1883/4 and has a lot of great historical touches. Grace; a scientist, is particular interested in proving the existence of ether *nerd alert* FYI Michelson and Morley’s experiment proved the non-existence of ether in 1887… and Einstein later used the results to build his theory of special relativity… did I mention I have a degree in Nuclear Physics…. ANYWAY… Grace is fascinated by Oliver Lodge’s experiments… which was another great touch since I studied in the Oliver Lodge building in Liverpool! So in terms of the scientific discoveries going on back then, it was spot on and provided just the right amount of information to inform the reader.Another historical touch was the incorporation of Gilbert and Sullivan into the storyline, Thaniel becomes a pianist in one of their performances – The Mikado. I could not fault the realistic background to this story, although I can appreciate that the overload of physics and operetta may bore some people.

I loved the friendship between Thaniel and Mori, I think the potential for these two characters is huge… with Mori knowing the future and Thaniel happy to keep him company and expose the truths… it’s a match made in heaven. I think my only little ‘niggle’ would be that I felt the plot was a little sporadic, I sometimes found it difficult to follow.

I hope that Pulley continues to explore the dynamics of these two!

Until next time, Chloé x