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Historical fiction, magic realism and elements of gothic fiction combine in this ambitious debut about a series of Fenian bombings in Victorian London. At the centre is a mysterious pocket watch, which saves the life of Thaniel Steepleton, a telegraphist, when a bomb goes off near Scotland Yard. Steepleton trawls through the London rubble in search of answers. The enigmatic Japanese watchmaker he encounters is less convincing, with passages in Tokyo detracting from the real action in England. Woven in is another vibrant character, Grace Carrow, a theoretical physicist who dresses up as a man to get into the library at Oxford. This is accomplished writing from Natasha Pulley, whose imagination shines through in the myriad plot strains and the way they’re brought together. The book takes off when the plights of its marginalised characters, from gender discrimination to racism, are given the platform.
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