Gabi's Review

The gas-lit, steampunk setting of late Victorian London, Oxford and Japan is the backdrop for Natasha Pulley's enigmatic period adventure The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. The book’s atmospheric, immersive narrative features intricate fantastical machines, luminiferous ether, and highly engaging characters.

In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton discovers a mysterious gift: a gold pocket watch left on his pillow. As a telegraphist at the Home Office, he is worried about a potential Fenian bombing. After the watch saves his life in an explosion at Scotland Yard, he sets out to find its maker, Keita Mori, a quiet immigrant who introduces him to a world of intricate clockwork and enchanting music. While Mori initially seems harmless, Thaniel suspects he might be hiding something. At the same time, Grace Carrow, a theoretical physicist, disguises herself as a man to sneak into an Oxford library in a race against time. As these three characters' lives become more entwined, events escalate to the point where Thaniel is forced to choose between loyalties, different futures, and conflicting geniuses.

This book has won many accolades, and although it was published in 2016, it continues to sell well to both adults and young adults. With a clever blend of history and fantasy, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street transports readers to a magical past filled with intrigue, a sense of fate, and a wondrous clockwork automata octopus called Katsu. 

Publishers Reviews

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2016
FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016


An International Bestseller - A Guardian Summer Read - An Amazon Best Book of the Month - A Goodreads Best Book of the Month - A Buzzfeed Summer Read - A Foyles Book of the Month - AHuffington Post Summer Read - A Yorkshire Post Book of the Week
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 slips 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.