He lived his life like clockwork. Until he met the watchmaker. From the publishers of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, The Song of Achilles, The Bone Season and Harry Potter comes a ravishing new literary historical fantasy
Natasha Pulley studied English Literature at Oxford University. After stints working at Waterstones as a bookseller, then at Cambridge University Press as a publishing assistant in the astronomy and maths departments, she did the Creative Writing MA at UEA. She later studied in Tokyo, where she lived on a scholarship from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. She was chosen to be a Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library and is now associate lecturer at Bath Spa University and panel tutor at the Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education. Her first novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, was an international bestseller, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. The Bedlam Stacks is her second novel. She lives in Bath. @natasha_pulley
[An] assured and absorbing debut … Immensely pleasurable reading.
Ms. Pulley’s prose is strong and energetic, with a wry edge, and
even the most minor characters are drawn precisely … The Watchmaker
of Filigree Street might be compared to one of Mori’s clockwork
birds: intricate, charming and altogether surprising
* New York Times, Editors Choice *
Forget steampunk. Welcome to tickpunk … Part Susanna Clarke, part
Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is
a delightful read that benefits from wonderfully colourful
characters and a lyrical prose style full of esoteric detail … a
compelling read
* SFX Magazine *
Rare and precious … humour, wit, mystery and danger are threaded
through the book in musical measure. It dances between genres and
makes partners of several … Pulley’s capacity for making
antagonists out of fully realized and sympathetic characters is
impressive, as is her ability to keep one guessing as the plot
ticks along. There’s nothing quite like putting down a delightful,
relentlessly charming and deeply moving book and then finding out
it’s the authors first … A remarkable debut
* Los Angeles Times Book Review *
Historical fiction, magic realism and elements of gothic fiction
combine in this ambitious debut ... This is accomplished writing
from Natasha Pulley, whose imagination shines through
* Irish Times *
Enchanting … Amid this thriller-like plot, Pulley raises
thought-provoking questions about free will, fate and identity —
making for a rich brew of historical fantasy, philosophy and
emotion
* Washington Post *
Elegantly composed, atmospheric and wholly compelling … Pulley’s
style is reminiscent of filigree: a decorative work of fine strands
woven together into a delicate tracery, which underpins the
overarching plot. With music and time at the heart of this
intriguing novel, the skilfully rendered interplay speaks volumes
about the talent and imagination at work behind such an intricately
beautiful piece of writing. A stunning debut by a promising new
voice
* The Lady , Book of the Month *
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street breaks the mould … Genre-busting
book of extraordinary imagination … The book is as elaborate as its
title suggests, but the multiple plots tick along like clockwork …
Exceptionally inventive and uniquely clear-headed, this is
speculative fiction as it should be
* Country Life *
This delightful first novel is as impressive as a work of
historical fiction … As it is a delicate fantasy with enough
gadgetry to pull in the steampunk fans, and a mystery to boot …
Readers will immediately want to read it again
* Library Journal *
Pulley’s electrifying debut is a triumph of speculative fiction. It
captures the frenetic energy of a world undergoing extraordinary
changes: London in the time of new electrical devices, Gilbert and
Sullivan’s theater, and the terror of Irish nationalist bombings …
Pulley expertly employs the tools of mystery and fantasy to examine
the social pressures faced by the marginalized … The heart of the
story is the universal human quest for acceptance, understanding,
and love
* Publishers Weekly *
Meticulously researched, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a
compelling mixture of fact and fantasy … The end of the book leaves
the reader yearning for a sequel – and for a pet clockwork octopus
(Keep reading it, you’ll see)
* The Skinny *
Everything you could ask for from the steampunk genre. It is full
of enticing period detail yet is not boringly over-researched. Its
language is charmingly old-fashioned and richly cadenced, without
being fusty or archaic … She convincingly presents the telegraph
system as a kind of proto-Internet. She conjures up such fanciful
items as bottled weather. She muses philosophically on matters of
free will and predestination. She illuminates the plight of
unemancipated women … And all of this in the most graceful and
vivid language one could desire … [a] poignant, funny, and
heartfelt debut
* Barnes & Noble Review *
Set mostly in 1880s London, Pulley's debut novel twists typical
steampunk elements—telegraphs, gaslight, clockwork automata—into a
fresh and surprising philosophical adventure … Clever and engaging,
this impressive first novel will reward both casual readers looking
for a fun period adventure and those fascinated by the tension
between free will and fate
* Kirkus *
Pulley’s imaginative first novel transports readers to a Victorian
London teeming with danger and magic … wholly original debut
* Booklist *
[A] masterful steampunk/mystery/historical fiction debut…a
thrilling tale that sweeps readers into a dark and magical past.
While The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is reminiscent of such
steampunk classics as William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s The
Difference Engine, Pulley’s novel grounds itself in historical
accuracy and exquisite prose, and even genre-adverse readers will
be hooked
* Bustle *
A captivating and entertaining work of speculative fiction
* BookBrowse *
A unique blend of historical fiction and magical realism about the
inextricable relationships between three people, a watch with
magical powers and a clockwork octopus … Ideal escapist holiday
reading, your imagination will run riot
* Irish Tatler *
A clever detective story, a thrilling steampunk adventure and a
poignant examination of the consequences of class warfare and
English, Irish and Japanese nationalism in the 19th century
* BookPage *
Gorgeous … I had high hopes for the Victorian-era novel. And I was
not disappointed
* Woman’s Way *
Blends historical events with clever flights of fancy … An
inventive debut; clever, intriguing, and astonishingly assured
* Irish Examiner *
Ten out of ten
*Spectator*
[A] brilliant novel in which fantasy punctuates history
*Times Higher Education Supplement*
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