The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

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 ev 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.

 

My Review:
 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is the debut, international bestselling book by Natasha Pulley.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street places us in an alternate London at the turn of the nineteenth century. But it certainly isn’t the London that we know, or the London that ‘we’ had in 1883 when this story begins. This London, is filled with a certain type of magic that pulses strongly at its core. It is a London that is in a love/hate relationship with the Japanese culture and deals with the fear of foreigners; something that is still valid and current in our time (especially with the refugee crisis in Europe). This book deals with shadow and light in this alternate London, but the book itself also has its own shadows and problems it tries to deal with.

The author not only studied English literature at Oxford, but also studied in Japan for 19 months on a scholarship. The Japanese culture has certainly left its mark on the author, as much of the book deals with the Japanese and their struggles to fit in, while trying to retain their cultural identity in a world which is quickly modernizing. It is a struggle that still happens today for refugees streaming into Europe. A struggle for those who are dealing with wanting to fit in while integrating into a society foreign to them, yet also wanting to hold on to their own values and beliefs, which often are not valued by the country receiving them.

The book has three main characters (four if you count an adorable clockwork Octopus named Katsu), and of the strange path that leads and intertwines their fates. At times, the supporting characters were a bit confusing, and I found myself back-paging quite a lot to remind myself of who a particular character was. The character building was a bit weak for the supporting cast, and at times, I questioned the motives and actions of the main characters also. The author was successful in character delineation, however, some of the characters felt very simple and two-dimensional.

The author dealt well with romantic/sexual situations including some homosexual situations. At times, it was so subtle, that it took me a moment to realize that something might have happened. In that regard, it’s definitely not a problem for our younger readers (although the story and plot might not be to their liking).

The plot at times was very heavy and slow moving. This should have given time for the characters to fully develop and for us to get a good look ‘behind the scenes’ and how and what makes the players tick. As mentioned before, the characters ended up being a bit flat and their actions were quite foreign to what I could relate to.

While reading this book, I tried numerous times to fit this book into a certain genre and failed. I believe this work of fiction is just one of those books that defies classification. It could lean towards alternate history and steampunk (without the steam). The clockwork that plays a major role in this book, is naturally an amazing sight to behold, but many of the characters who come close to the clockwork wonders, don’t respond with awe and wonder, which either means they’ve seen it all before, or most likely, that the author left out these reactions by mistake.

The debut book from Natasha Pulley is definitely something unique and hard to classify. Interesting elements of alternate history, the tensions of foreign cultures, and clockwork wonder make for an interesting nineteenth century London. Certain elements in character and dialogue development felt flat and rushed and the plot left me wishing for things to get moving faster for a large section of the book. I recommend this read for those who like the above-mentioned ideas and genres, as this book might be a good fit for those who appreciate alternate histories and clockwork. Unfortunately, the cover was much more intriguing to me than the actual story. Many debut books I have come across in the past have elements that need to be ironed out.

I certainly look forward to reading the author’s upcoming book, ‘The Bedlam Stacks’ due out in August 2017 from Bloomsbury Publishing.