“The Watchmaker of Filigree Street”, by Natasha Pulley

318 pages, Bloomsbury, ISBN-13: 978-1620408339

The Books on Tap bookclub that I run for the Fraser Public Library is an opportunity for me to introduce the Reading Public at large to all sorts of different books and subjects that are, perhaps, outside of their typical experience – like Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel (reviewed on June 13^th, 2012), for example – only the members of the bookclub had no interest AT ALL in reading about longitude, so I substituted it for The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, instead. Ah, well; their loss. Not that I really minded, in the end, for The Watchmaker was as interesting and intriguing book as any I’ve read – that it was also Natasha Pulley’s first ever novel makes her accomplishment that much more triumphant.

So, what’s it all about? Set in 1883, we follow one Thaniel Steepleton who, after returning to his tiny London apartment after a day of work as a Telegraphist, finds a golden pocket watch on his pillow, its provenance unknown. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece alarm function goes off as he is in a pub – minutes before a hidden bomb explodes, thus saving his life while destroying Scotland Yard. This prompts Thaniel to go off in search of its maker, one Keita Mori, a genius who creates ingenious clockwork creations who informs Thaniel that the watch had been stolen months before. A whole chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something, and when Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.

The Watchmaker kept me interested the whole time I was reading it. Pulley pulled out just enough facts to keep the story moving while hiding her Big Reveals in such a way as to make them intriguing rather than irritating. The main characters – Thaniel, Mori and Grace – were interesting enough to keep me intrigued, while the motivations of all concerned were clear-cut – well, except for Mori, whose decisions were decidedly opaque. Until, that is, we discover more about the man and what he is all about, whence all those strange things he said and did make perfect sense. There is a plot hole or two I could mention. But won’t. For The Watchmaker of Filigree Street kept me engrossed in its tale and its characters enough for me to overlook much, and to look forward to the continuing adventures of Mori et. al