The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street

by Natasha Pulley

Hardcover, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Publication

Thorndike Press (2015), Edition: Large Print, 537 pages

Description

In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton returns to his tiny flat to find a gold pocketwatch on his pillow. But he has worse fears than generous burglars; he is a telegraphist at the Home Office, which has just received a threat for what could be the largest-scale Fenian bombing in history. When the watch saves Thaniel's life in a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori--a kind, lonely immigrant who sweeps him into a new world of clockwork and music. Although Mori seems harmless at first, a chain of unexpected events soon proves that he must be hiding something. Meanwhile, Grace Carrow is sneaking into an Oxford library dressed as a man. A theoretical physicist, she is desperate to prove the existence of the luminiferous ether before her mother can force her to marry. As the lives of these three characters become entwined, events spiral out of control until Thaniel is torn between loyalties, futures and opposing geniuses. Utterly beguiling, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street blends historical events with dazzling flights of fancy to plunge readers into a strange and magical past, where time, destiny, genius--and a clockwork octopus--collide.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Meredy

Six-word review: Engaging, original concept not fully realized.

Extended review:

Nineteenth-century London, Japanese culture, bombs, clockwork, terrorists, politics, physics, romance; memory, foreknowledge, consciousness, choice, consequences. And an endearing mechanical mascot. What a promising list

of ingredients!

Unfortunately the author just doesn't have the muscle to pull off what she's trying to do here. She's the singer who breaks on the high note, the gymnast who can't stick her dismount.

Not that we aren't rooting for her. The idea is strong. The main character is appealing. The devices she imagines sound almost plausible enough to be real (in a magical sort of way), and the notion of a character who remembers alternative futures before they occur works as a concept within the bounds of the world she creates.

But something happens between the plan and the execution. Little fumbles along the way--muddled sentences, minor logical slips, small missed connections--seem to snowball in the last fifty pages or so, and suddenly we're lost. What just happened? Did I completely lose the thread? Did the story slip a gear? Did somebody's character come completely undone?

Is this the outcome we've been building up to? Really?

Actually, no, I don't think it is. Rather, the author seems to have lost control of her material, and nobody pulled her back in.

Nobody made her go back and look at colorless-green-ideas sentences like these:

68, Ito, who had just returned from a long stint in America, thought of escaping oranges.
241, But he wanted to lock himself upstairs and sleep until he could wake into something else.
308, 'I don't like being a future goldfish, it makes me perpetually mistrustful of my past self.'

Nobody made her ditch some terrible coined adverbs:

133, piggily
207, purply
272, tinily

Nobody helped her correct numerous wrongly nuanced expressions and overt malapropisms:

49, The watchmaker must have been waiting to hear the clatter of fabric
A clatter is a percussive sound made by the impact of hard things striking one another. Fabric does not clatter.

65, ...dropped straight down on to his knees and pressed his forehead to the cobblestones. This genuflection...
Genuflection means bending the knee--not a full kowtow, which is what's being described here.

214, I really haven't the time to soothe your ensuing alcoholism
Surely she meant "incipient," not "ensuing."

239, He pulled Fanshaw's dictionary across the desk and stole a supernumerary pencil
"Supernumerary" doesn't just mean "spare," never mind "available." It's in excess of some proper or prescribed amount; or it's the term you use for so-called spear-carriers in an opera, extras who stand silent guard by the gates or fill out a crowd scene but have no actual role. The number of pencils on hand is both unstated and irrelevant here; nothing (except a needless distraction) is lost if the six-syllable adjective is simply deleted. He picked up a pencil. Who cares if it's extra, borrowed, stray, or one of a perfect set? It's just a writing implement and has no importance in the story, much less the weight attached to it by an ostentatious word like "supernumerary."

Nobody told her that narrative prose isn't the place for a writer's-notebook line like this:

99, the grumbling humming of the bumblebees

Nobody, in fact, seems to have been on duty for the whole last muddy sixth of it. What actually happened? Where did that come from? How does this explain what went before?

All this notwithstanding, I liked this book. I wanted it to be better. It's good in a way that The Night Circus should have been but wasn't. By that I mean that it has an honest feel, it shows some depth, and it aspires to be something more than the average crowd-pleaser without preening and posturing. The misuse of words looks more like an excess of enthusiasm than pretentiousness to me.

What I'd really like to see, if it were up to me, would be for the author to get on with her writing career, publish three or four more novels (maybe bringing back the delightful Katsu?), and then come back and rewrite this one when she's gained a lot more experience. She may not have the muscle right now, but she looks like someone who can build it up with practice. Oh, and training.

And someone to watch those dismounts.

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LibraryThing member souloftherose

I really enjoyed this novel about a telegraph clerk in 1880s London, a Japanese watchmaker and a female scientist. Although the plot involves terrorism and bombs mixed with some fantastical elements, it's a fairly gentle and kind novel, especially in the relationships between some of the

characters, and the kindness reminded me of Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor.

It also has some flaws: there were occasional sentences or paragraphs I had to reread a few times to understand their meaning and the actions of one character towards the end of the book didn't really seem consistent with what we already knew about them. I'd say the writing style seems a bit too consciously literary for me - there seems to be a bit of a trend to try to write quirky, literary/fantastical novels (The Night Circus, The Miniaturist etc.) and sometimes I come away feeling the author was trying too hard. Also, although Pulley had clearly done a lot of research about 1880s London (I'd never heard about the Japanese village in Knightsbridge before, I never really felt like she'd really captured the late-Victorian period. However, reading it as more of a fantasy novel (rather than historical fiction) worked well and I loved the characters. I would be very interested in seeing what Pulley writes next.

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LibraryThing member FairestEve

This gorgeous cover lead me down a winding path of frustration and annoyance (and not in the good way). I am surrounded by people who loved this book and I am so perplexed as to why it is so adored in its current state. It has become a joke amongst my friends that this book gave me a kind of

"reading PTSD" where if it is brought up I go into several rants.

This book has an interesting premise and is boiling over with potential. So much so, that I stuck through it to the bitter end binge reading it for an entire day just hoping to get a moment of satisfaction I kept feeling should be around the corner. It never came.

Without getting too much into the story (because if I start, I will not stop and this review will end up being a massive rant along with what I already intend to say), the book is filled with language that is confusing and trying too hard to be smart. It is difficult to tell who is talking when in several parts of the book. The overall writing style gives off a condescending nature which isn't pleasurable to read. You do not need to try to sound smart to your reader to have them believe this is a smart and complex story. The story itself can speak for that.

There are random flashback scenes that instead of making you excited to know more about a character's backstory, make you want to sigh and skip over it despite knowing that somewhere buried in it is something important. In the acknowledgements, we are told that she was assisted in cutting out the unnecessary parts and everything was cleaned up. It feels as if that rarely happened (and if it did I almost hate to see how much else was originally in it) and it felt more like many parts were instances the author fell in love with and just couldn't let go (I am guilty of this myself).

The characters themselves are interesting. We have Thaniel who is a pianist stuck working a job trying to support his sister and her family who has synesthesia (I loved the scenes where it goes into detail just how he sees the world. I wanted so much more of it). We have the mysterious watchmaker who Thaniel becomes fascinated by. And we have the girl who doesn't fit in and simply wants to work on her scientific theories instead of doing what is expected of her (okay the female character feels kinda wedged in just to fill a small purpose and despite liking her initially, she just felt more and more as an afterthought as the book went on). I'm annoyed to see these characters fall short of where I believed they should be.

Along with the story, we have a lot of Japanese influence (as the author spent some time in Japan I am told), however some parts of it seemed very much what some would call "weeaboo" parts. Essentially, it heavily feels like an outsider looking in on Japanese culture and obsessing over it to a degree. Honestly, it is to be expected however since she was never born and raise in the culture itself, but I feel some of what was written about the culture seemed too stereotypical. This isn't too much of a big qualm, but something to think about when writing in this universe or others with the Japanese culture involved. I am not Japanese however, so take my opinion with a grain of salt I suppose.

Now, and I won't spoil too much of it, but a romance blossoms between two of the characters. In a way, it felt like something that should have happened (or was expected) while at the same time being somewhat shoved in and unhealthy in a other ways. The book makes you question one of the persons in the relationship's motives and power over the other character (and a concerning idea comes up from the third party) and it is lightly brushed aside at the end with some fluff. It just was poorly executed. I feel people are two blinded by the fact that those two characters got together that they instantly love the book instead of seeing the problems.

In the end, I felt this book was trying too hard to be a BBC show like Sherlock. It feels like its entire outline runs like an episode (or a multipart special), which can be a good or bad thing depending on the execution. In this instance, a bad thing. Now if it were better executed and overall just written better, I would be all for it. I could say I adored this book and want more, which right now I do not.

Deep down however, I desperately want this idea and overall story, along with the characters, to succeed. A part of me wants this to be a tv special series instead and allow us to see everything more developed. I want this story to be so much better than it is. And I believe it is possible.

Natasha, if you ever read this review do not give up hope in your writing. This is your first book after all. Please continue writing and refine your work. One day come back to this and rewrite it. I'm certain after you gain more experience that you will indeed create the work I, and several others, hoped this would be. I want to see more of this couple, but build their relationship healthily and make it more than just what it is currently. Show us they love each other. Or you could go the other route and bring back up the motives and power and maybe make it a complex relationship that needs exploring. More than just "BAM! They are together now." I truly believe you are capable. Just go after it.

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LibraryThing member mirikayla

I'm a little flustered trying to describe this. The first several chapters were intriguing enough that I kept reading despite having a very hard time focusing on it, and then after a while I got really into it. I fell completely in love with the middle, tried not to get my hopes up about the

ending, and was deeply, preemptively heartbroken for what I felt sure couldn't happen. The weird thing is that in the end I got what I wanted, but I feel more as though I didn't. It was too easy, at the very end, and MUCH too hard leading up to that. The whole debacle with Grace and Katsu was so much more stressful than I wanted it to be, and I'm kind of furious with Pulley for going that direction. My absolute favorite parts were the middle with Thaniel and Mori getting to know each other, and I wish it could have continued in that beautiful, gentle way instead of going all to hell. I was very emotionally invested here. The bright side is that now that I know how it ends, maybe I can read it in the future with less stress and just appreciate the relationship that was so happy for me.

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LibraryThing member pennylane78

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley was a book I thought I would like. The premise is great, there is mystery, intrigue, a mechanical octopus, it's set in the Victorian era, the cover is beautiful. All reasons for me to love this book. However, I did not love this book. It was a

struggle for me to get through. The main characters, Thaniel and Morey had great potential, however, I just couldn't get sucked into the story. Finally, about 75% of the way through, I started to want to know how it would end, and I was able to finish it quickly. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I just wished the story lived up to it's promise!

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LibraryThing member blakefraina

All right, all you Sherlock Holmes fangirls, listen up.

What would you think of a version where “Sherlock” is a petite clairvoyant Japanese samurai/watchmaker with a Lincolnshire accent? And what if his “Watson” is a twenty-five year old Whitehall telegraph clerk who gave up his musical

aspirations due to an acute case of synesthesia? And “Mary Watson” is an Oxford educated scientist with a butch haircut, a penchant for dressing in menswear and a Japanese dandy for a best friend? Think you might enjoy that?

Let me answer that for you. Yes. Yes, you would.

Okay okay, this isn’t really a Sherlock Holmes story. But it’s as good as. And I mean that respectfully and in every respect. I know from a little online investigative work that author Natasha Pulley is a Sherlock fan, and this novel, which is surely an homage to Arthur Conan Doyle’s number one son, definitely ranks among the best of them. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a while. The atmosphere of Victorian era London is lovingly recreated. The characters are completely enchanting and believable - by the end I was in love with them all. And in typical Conan Doyle fashion, the plot is labyrinthine and kind of outrageous (as is the resolution), but that’s all part of the fun. Plus, there’s a neat fantasy element that is completely unique and charming.

Like the entire oeuvre of recent Sherlock Holmes re-tellings, the focus is not really on the plot, which basically functions as nothing more than a convoluted Maguffin to deliver the real story – which is the relationship between these two very different men. I think readers will be delighted by the evident chemistry between the peculiar, misanthropic Keita Mori and hapless, pragmatist Nathaniel Steepleton.

I hesitate to say more, for fear of spoiling a story that was full of truly wonderful surprises. I loved this book. I hated that it ended because I wanted to spend more time with these people. So even though it’s unbelievably corny and I vowed I would never say this sort of thing, I’m kind of wishing for a sequel.

I’m confident this book will be a huge hit. It has all the right stuff.

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LibraryThing member JBD1

For about the first half of this book, I was absolutely riveted, and then things sort of came apart at the seams for me. I really hoped the author could pull it off, but particularly the final third of the novel felt far too rushed in parts and far too meandering in others. I needed more from a

couple of the characters in order to make much of the plot work. That said, the basic premise is really neat, and there are elements here which are absolutely top-rate (I loved the idea of the clockwork sock-hoarding "pet" octopus). I will look forward with anticipation to Pulley's future work; this book shows that she's got tremendous potential.

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LibraryThing member richardderus

The Publisher Says: 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.

I CHECKED THIS ONE OUT FROM THE LIBRARY. USE THIS FREE SERVICE OFTEN. THEY'RE ALREADY PAID FOR.

My Review: I was hoping this would be a five-star read. I hope that every time I open a book, albeit often with a forlorn sense of the hopelessness of such a thing. But this one, with Queer desire and relationship on offer? Yes please! Gimme!

Mori and Thaniel, the men in question, are indeed heading down Relationship Road. In no kind or sort of hurry, mind you. They live in *London, *Victorian times, with...magic? sort-of kind-of magic...that involves seeing the multiverse and manipulating your present to bring about a future you like the best from the possibilities. I love this idea, and the use of this trope alone would've gotten the book four stars!

The way it's handled is also really compelling to me, with Mori making his odd little machines to nudge reality into new shapes. I was also fascinated by Thaniel's kinesthesia...D# is yellow, for example...but too little was made of this for my taste, more of a small grace note. In particular I was sad that Thaniel didn't twig to something he heard being the proof he needed of what was happening around him...but he was simply too stressed out, I think was the reasoning behind that failure.

Quite a lot that I missed first time round.

I was sure I recalled this read pretty accurately, and was mildly taken aback by the amount of information I glided past before...for example, the way Thaniel says things to his, um, er, to Grace that, um, kind-of unhappen as the ending approaches...and now, on a years-later re-read seem *hugely*significant* and almost spoilery.

But that's because I really already knew them, and how they'd play out.

So what would I call this read, a re-read or a new read? It's kind of both. I've read The Kingdoms between that initial experience and this one, I'm hip to the author's tricks in a way I wasn't before; I was revisiting the story because I'm reviewing The Half Life of Valery K now, as well. It's clear as crystal that any author develops stylistic tropes, won't call them tics unless they irk me somehow, and Author Pulley's a one for hiding relationship signals in plain sight. It's a bit disappointing that Grace, after her *horrible* behavior, isn't made to suffer any consequences. Given that there's a second book with Thaniel and Mori at its center, which I haven't read, that could be possible.

I've got the best of both worlds, then, revisiting an older read that's altered in interesting ways in light of later reads by the same author. It made this meditation on the etheric reality of chance and destiny intertwining so much richer than it was at first.

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LibraryThing member anacskie

Tried so hard to finished this book. But it’s just so boring and there are characters in the book that made me wonder why I’m reading about them. It started so promising but it just did not fall through with me. After reading about 70% of the book I just have to end the torture and give up.

LibraryThing member stormyhearted

I received this book through Muse Monthly, a book & tea subscription service; I sat down to read without knowing anything beyond what the title and cover revealed, and rather enjoyed the surprise.

The settings are easy to immerse oneself in; they feel very natural and accessible, something that

cannot be said for all historical fiction. I think the limited number of locations helped them feel more real, because we regularly returned to them, instead of constantly setting out to new places.

The characters are distinct and unique. I was disappointed not to see more of a few, given the links and connections established between some of them. There was one POV character who I really failed to connect with, and I struggled not to skim her chapters. Her role in the overall plot felt somewhat tacked on, honestly. Her role in the main character's plot, and the book's climax, were both easy to spot ahead- not necessarily a bad thing, given some elements of the book's plot, but my lack of enthusiasm for her made it a bit less exciting than it might have been.

The plot is a bit meandering; the main character does have a goal fairly early on in the novel, but the sense of urgency is only played up occasionally. It's a very character driven book, overall.

I really enjoyed this book, and would pick up more of the author's work if I came across it.

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LibraryThing member nicx27

This is one of those books that I enjoyed but that I got to the end of and hardly knew what happened or how to review it. It's 1883 and Thaniel Steepleton is a telegraphist for the Home Office and one day he returns home and there is a clockwork watch in his room. He's puzzled by its appearance but

some months later the watch saves his life from a bomb. He traces the maker of the watch, a Japanese man called Keita Mori to whom there is more than meets the eye. The third person in the story is Grace Carrow, a young scientist whose life becomes intertwined with the two men.

This is a fascinating and interesting book and I really enjoyed reading it. It needed some concentration and as I said, I'm not entirely sure it all made sense but it's clever and intricately plotted. Oh, and there's a wonderful array of clockwork inventions that really make the story original. I liked Thaniel very much - he's level-headed and kind and I just wanted things to work out well for him. Great read.

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LibraryThing member LibraryGirl11

An extraordinary steampunk novel, set in late Victorian London but with a subplot set in novel-contemporary Japan. Unexpected twists, and a surprisingly charming clockwork octopus.

LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba

This is one of those odd books you pick up because it has an interesting cover. And it was amazing - the book moves fast, the places are interesting, the characters fully realized, and the magic is important, it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the story. The characters in the book are actually

written with 1883 conventions- rather than modern characters set in history as many other books in the genre are written in.

The locations in this book are quite believable. I like that there is no mysticism from the Japanese characters - many of the characters are administration - trying to reconcile old Japan with modernization, as well as keeping an eye on the budget. The characters are human. Not better, not worst, than anyone else in the book

Of course - its not perfect, I believe its a first novel, and few places the writing was a bit clunky and over done, especially to the character of Grace Carrow, who is a total scientist and understands what Mori's talent is. I like the touch of Grace studying Ether, which is totally discounted today.

The relationship between Mori and Thaniel is touching - it feels right for the time. The ending is a bit saccharine - but it is satisfying.

Over all - this is an excellent book to read - and I hope that the author writes more books with these characters.

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LibraryThing member seeword

Debut novel. Not quite steampunk, but close. Slow going and a bit confusing at times, but interesting characters and situations.
Library book.

LibraryThing member jen.e.moore

I wasn't particularly impressed by the first couple of chapters but it had gotten such good reviews that I kept going - and I'm very glad I did. Mori is a wonderfully complex, fascinating character, and I adored him. I'm not sure the other main characters lived up to him for complexity, but I'm

willing to be convinced.

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LibraryThing member AltheaAnn

Thaniel Steepleton is an unassuming British public servant. Once, he had dreams of becoming a pianist, but now he has to support his distant, widowed sister's family, so he's tied to his job as a telegraph operator, and doesn't expect anything in his rather dull and ascetic life to change.

However,

an anonymous gift of a clearly valuable watch becomes suspicious when it ends up saving him from an Irish terrorist group's bomb. Soon, he's assigned to spy on Keita Mori, a Japanese watchmaker living in London... a job where his sympathies will end up being sorely tested.

Meanwhile, a young student, Grace Carrow, is conducting experiments designed to prove the existence of ether. However, her scientific career seems fated to come to an abrupt end due to her gender: her father will not give her an inheritance unless she is married, and so far her inquiries have not been fruitful. Her best friend, an aristocratic Japanese student, seems thoroughly uninterested in the possibility of marriage to an Englishwoman, so her future is uncertain.

When it comes right down to it, this is a faux-Victorian paranormal romance. However, it's told with a delicate touch. The style reminded me of the 'filigree' of the title - ornately detailed, finely crafted, and lovely. The magical elements are understated; the romance is a slow burn where more is implied than told. Yet the story is both accessible and interest-gripping: I found myself putting down other books in order to keep on with this one instead.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book - which turned out to be even better than I'd expected! As always, my opinions are my own.

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LibraryThing member pgchuis

Thaniel, a telegraphy clerk in the Home Office is saved from a bomb explosion by a siren from a watch which appeared in his lodgings six months previously. He goes to see the watchmaker, Mori, to try to determine if Mori was involved in the creation of the bomb, planted by Irish nationalists. He is

drawn to Mori, but at the same time is promoted to the Japanese branch of the Foreign Office (and miraculously develops far greater social confidence overnight) and is asked by Scotland Yard to spy on Mori for them. In a second strand, Grace, in the fourth year at LMH is trying to prove a scientific hypothesis and meets Thaniel at a FO ball. Thaniel offers to marry Grace so he can thereby inherit her aunt's house and she can use it as a laboratory. Thaniel introduces Grace to Mori and they dislike each other.

I found the start of this novel slow, but enjoyable. All the chapters with Mori and his clockwork octopus in were interesting and I liked the way Thaniel's loyalties twisted. SPOILERS The part where Grace proved that Mori could indeed see the future went completely over my head. I didn't understand any of the last 20% really. Why did Grace suddenly decide Thaniel would have to choose between her and Mori? I thought she just wanted a laboratory? Why such desperate measures? Why did Mori "collapse" into a chair at the very end?

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LibraryThing member MillieHennessy

Thaniel leads a rather boring, but ordinary life, until he finds his apartment has been broken into. Yet nothing was stolen – instead, a strange pocket watch was left for him, though he cannot open it and has no idea who it might be from. Months go by before the watch opens, and after an alarm on

the watch saves him from a fatal explosion at Scotland Yard, Thaniel decides to seek out the maker of the watch for answers. What he finds is a somewhat eccentric Japanese watchmaker and develops a friendship that will change his life.

Here it comes guys….I. Loved. This. Book. I know! I say this a lot (but seriously, I know my tastes pretty well by now and I’m usually an accurate judge of what books I’ll love) but for a debut novel, this was a home run. I was drawn in by the cover art when browsing at the library and the Pulley hooked me slowly with her writing. At first, this book had very little plot. Readers are introduced to Thaniel and his hum-drum life, and then we’re introduced to Mori, the watchmaker who spices up his life. What develops is a quirky, but strong friendship between the two men and Mori’s “pet”, a clockwork octopus named Katsu.

What really pulled me in were the characters in this book. First off, I desperately want my own Katsu and he might be my favorite character, despite him being a mechanical octopus that supposedly acts on random gear settings. When I first picked up the book, I was confused by the octopus graphics on the cover and spine, but after finishing the story, I consider Katsu a main character and certainly understand his relevance in the artwork. Watchmaker focuses mostly on the characters and the development of their relationships, so at first I was just reading along, and while I was interested in and enjoying what I was reading, I wasn’t invested. Suddenly, the plot picked up and I realized that I was hooked on these people and I cared about what happened to them and hadn’t realized it until danger appeared.

I don’t want to give anything away, but there was a somewhat surprising twist, one that I was hoping would happen, but didn’t think actually would. I think what came from that twist really gave this book a unique feel, especially for one set in the 1840s in England, and I’m glad Pulley went there. I certainly hope she writes more in this universe, but no matter what, I’m looking forward to what she creates next. If you like historical fiction with a steampunk (or…clockwork) twist, and you don’t mind the plot taking the backseat to character development, I think you should pick up this book.

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LibraryThing member murderbydeath

I don't know how I feel about this book as a whole; I didn't love it but it sucked me in completely and it stayed with me. So, to break it down:

I hate Grace. She is awful and selfish.

I love Mori's clockwork shop - it's so vivid in my mind's eye and it's metallically magical.

I am in LOVE with

Katsu, Mori's clockwork octopus; I'm not alone in this, he steals the entire book and I'm more than a little peeved with the author. I want a Katsu - possibly more than I want a dodo named Pickwick.

I liked Thaniel and Mori, Mori probably a bit more. For all the time we spend with Thaniel he remains elusive; I came away with a much better understanding of Mori, a character who shares almost nothing.

I can say this with confidence: I think the author lost control of her story a bit. The bombing is the pivotal event that kicks the story off, but then completely falls away for the middle 2/3s of the book - it's never even mentioned - only to be wrapped up in a few lines of dialogue at the end. It feels like the middle 2/3s is the story she wanted to tell, but needed a prop to hold it up, then tacked a resolution to it onto the end as an afterthought. It's a weird superficiality in a book full of depth.

Would I recommend this? I don't know - it might be worth reading just for the clock worth octopus!

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LibraryThing member aadyer

A rambling, and at times difficult to follow tale of a watchmaker and his infatuated companion. Poorly paced with long periods of low velocity plot drive, this was a labour (& not of love). Characterisations here were I felt, unsympathetic, and I found them difficult to follow, like or get involved

with. Poor. Avoid.

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LibraryThing member Kris_Anderson

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.

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LibraryThing member irregularreader

Thaniel Steepleton is a low-level telegraphist with the British Home Office. One morning, after a long night shift, he finds a mysterious package sitting on his bed. Inside is a watch he is unable to open, though he can hear the clockwork moving inside. Forgetting about the mysterious watch as the

months go by, Thaniel is drawn with the rest of the government into investigating bomb threats being made by Irish Nationalists. When the watch saves him from such a blast, Thaniel is determined to get to the bottom of the timepiece’s mystery. Seeking out the maker of the piece, a Japanese Baron turned watchmaker, Thaniel finds a quiet, unassuming man. As events continue, it appears more and more that Keita Mori is hiding something. Thaniel must weigh his growing regard for the kindly Mori with his increasing suspicion that he may be at the center of the bombings in London.

This is a neat little book, and took me down unexpected paths. In the interests of keeping my reviews spoiler free, I won’t elaborate any more on the plot here, but suffice to say that having started the book, I could not have predicted where it would wind up. There are elements of fantasy and steampunk in this story, but these aspects don’t seem intrusive, which is a fairly easy trap to fall into in this genre. Rather, the book felt like a historical mystery, with the more fantastical elements providing a gilding along the edges.

The characters of Thaniel Steepleton and Keita Mori are richly drawn. Mori, especially, is well done. As the plot weaves on, we come to regard both he and Thaniel as sympathetic characters, yet we are left guessing until the very end of the book whether or not Mori is a villain.

Fans of historical mystery, steampunk, or historical fantasy will find a great deal to like in this book. The book lies somewhere between the historical-with-a-bit-of-supernatural Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn, and the vividly steampunk Magnificent Devices series by Shelly Adina.

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LibraryThing member lauriebrown54

Thaniel Steepleton is a telegrapher at the home office, spending his working hours in a former broom closet, listening to the machines that have their wire tentacles all over Westminster. It’s a boring life. Then one night a bomb threat comes through, set for May. When he goes ‘home’- a

Spartan room in a boarding house-he discovers his door open and a velvet box tied with ribbon and addressed to himself. In it is a fancy pocket watch of the finest work. Realizing it’s his birthday, he assumes his sister has been there and left it. When he sends a telegram to her in Scotland and she replies that of course she’s home and hasn’t been to London, the mystery begins.

Six months after this, he’s in a pub when the watch starts sounding an alarm. He goes outside to try and shut off the noise- and narrowly escapes an explosion. Obviously whoever gave him the watch knew when the explosion was set to happen. Thaniel is set by his superior to find where the watch came from, and then shadow him. So he ends up renting a room from the Japanese watchmaker who admits he made the watch. Keita Mori, a lonely man from Japan, doesn’t just make watches. He does all sorts of clockwork- his pet is a clockwork octopus that is supposed to act randomly- but keeps ending up hiding in Thaniel’s dresser drawer, stealing his socks.

Meanwhile, another narrative strand involves Grace Carrow, who is studying physics at Oxford, and has to dress as a man to gain entrance to the library. Her best friend is also from Japan, a dandy from a royal house. She has an inheritance, but her father won’t let her have it- until she marries. Which she doesn’t want to do.

Even more strands appear. I have to admit I was totally confused at several points. There is a supernatural element, making it even harder to figure out. But it all comes out in the end. It’s a steampunk story, a Victorian mystery, and a love story. It was totally engrossing, with a wonderfully created atmosphere, and great details- clockwork fireflies? Yes, please! The characters could have been filled out better; for as much page time as Thaniel gets, we don’t know much about his interests are or even how he spent his spare time before the novel starts! Still, five stars.

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LibraryThing member amaraki

pretty good. it was an entertaining bit of historical fluff combined with magic and 19th c style science fiction, plus some modern thematic undercurrents (e.g homosexuality). can't say i followed all of it as it was a bit complex with the fantastic 'scientific' imagination. would not read her

second book.

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LibraryThing member ladycato

I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

This book has many charming elements with its blend of Sherlock Holmes and light steampunk, but in the end so many things were left muddled. Thaniel is the protagonist, a young man who is left with a pocket watch under mysterious circumstances.

When the watch saves his life, he sets out to finds its maker: a Japanese man named Mori. Their relationship is one of the great joys of the book. Their banter and friendship grows into something that is handled with a light touch quite in keeping with the voice of the Victorian period.

The other perspective of the book is Grace, a rebellious daughter of a lord and an Oxford-educated scientist. I never was able to fully grasp her viewpoint, and her role in events at the end is explained in an info dump that still leaves her motivations unclear.

Mori's powers of clairvoyance create a magical realism element. This is handled well for the most part, though the introduction of fantastical weather-changing powers at the end didn't fit with the rest of the world-building. I enjoyed reading of a Japanese man in London during this period, and again, I loved his relationship with Thaniel. Oh, and katsu. I adored katsu!

The real problem was the climax. The true villain of the novel was far too obvious from the start, and the way things came together kept too manipulated by the author, rather than manipulated by Mori. I kept thinking "Huh? What? And it's being explained like THAT?" Plus... katsu. Sigh. I really hoped I'd like this a lot more than I did.

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