I did not know that a watch could save a life but in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley it does just that. Nathaniel Steepleton is a lowly telegraphist for the British Government in the 1880’s. One day he comes home to his rented room and finds a random pocket watch on a table. After no one admits to giving it as a gift he decides to keep it with him and starts constantly carrying it around. Shortly thereafter when the government has received bomb threats Nathaniel is relaxing at a bar with some colleagues when the watch’s alarm starts going off. Retreating outside to try and turn it off he only barely escapes the bomb that detonates across the street at Scotland Yard and hits the bar as well. Curious about the watch and the mysterious timing of the alarm saving his life Nathaniel starts investigating the watchmaker in case he was involved with the bombing. The watchmaker, one Keita Mori, lives and works in a shop on filigree street where he also happens to have a room for rent. Nathaniel, rather curious about the watchmaker, rents the room and quickly strikes up a friendship with Mori as he deals with his mysterious clockworks that roam the building while still investigating the bombing.
I was really fascinated by this book as the idea that someone’s life could be saved by something as innocuous as a pocket watch was rather interesting to me. Obviously, that kind of thing can happen but usually it is by chance and this book indicates that it was not by chance in this case. Someone had deliberately set the alarm on the watch for that date and time in order to save Nathaniel’s life. It was such a unique plot device that I just found myself really drawn in to this story. Mind you, I was also really drawn in by the mystery as well as Nathaniel works on figuring out exactly what is going on with Mori. The guy is a complete enigma for the vast majority of the book to both the readers and other characters. His motivations and reasoning slowly dribble out but it takes a comparatively long time. In contrast, we learn a lot about Nathaniel fairly early on as he just wants to be able to play his piano, help out his widowed sister and her kids, and try to figure out what happened that lead to the bombing. Even the other major character, Grace Carrow, reveals her primary motivations pretty early on as well as she just wants to be able to pursue her science without being restricted by the restrictions placed on women at the time. Mori reveals practically nothing in comparison about why he is doing what he is doing. The only thing we really learn about him is that he greatly enjoys clockwork mechanisms. On top of the rather interesting characters the plot was great as well and did a great job with the pacing as it slowly revealed information and heightened the tension between the characters and surrounding the bombing investigation. It kind of felt like everything was pretty well balanced throughout the course of the story. Something that is typically hard to do. This was a pretty great book in my opinion so I am giving it 4.5 out 5 stars.
In terms of genre this is a bit of a tricky classification. It sounds like, on the surface, it would be historical fiction and in many ways it is just that as it is a work of fiction that is set in the past. However, due to some rather interesting elements revealed later in the story it could also be classified as fantasy as well. What this means is that it would probably hold at least some appeal for reader who prefer either of those genres. Especially works set in and around Victorian England or works that have to do with clockwork in any way. This book is technically aimed primarily at adults but I don’t see why it couldn’t potentially be read by the young adult and teen age range. It does contain some graphic descriptions of the aftermath of the bombings but aside from that there is little violence or mature content present in the book so it should be okay. I would have no issue with suggesting it to that age range. Overall, it was a pretty good book and one that I hope you will consider reading. If you do decide to try it feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.