Description

Escape into the enchanting world of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. This extraordinary sequel transports readers to Japan, where time, destiny and love collide to electrifying effect

‘A Japan that never was, a future lost, ghosts that are not dead … not even a partial list of ingredients can do justice to this wonderful cake of a book … A time-defying thriller’ ROBIN HOBB

For Thaniel Steepleton, an unexpected posting to Tokyo can’t come at a better moment. The London fog has made him ill and doctor’s orders are to get out.

His brief is strange: the staff at the British Legation have been seeing ghosts, and his first task is to find out what’s going on. But staying with his closest friend Keita Mori in Yokohama, Thaniel starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons he won’t say, Mori is frightened. Then he vanishes.

Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labour camp in northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori’s, must investigate.

As ghosts appear across Tokyo and the weather turns bizarrely electrical, Thaniel grows convinced that it all has something to do with Mori’s disappearance – and that Mori might be in far more trouble than any of them first thought.

Publisher Review

With Pepperharrow, I think Natasha has outdone herself. The characters have reached iconic status already, and it’s so rare to find an author who marries such a sparkling imagination with the storytelling flair of a maestro thriller writer – this was her most unputdownable novel yet and I loved it — Claire Evans, author of The Fourteenth Letter Pulley’s intricate plot, vibrant setting, entrancing magic, and dynamic ensemble of characters make for an un-put-downable historical fantasy. New readers will be pulled in and series fans will be delighted by this tour de force * Publisher’s Weekly * Plotted as intricately as clockwork, this weaves together historical political warfare with electromagnetic science research and magical clairvoyance. The characters are what really makes this sing, though … I love them all, and would happily read a whole series of their adventures — Lauren James Praise for The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: ‘Ten out of ten * Spectator * Charming … Elegant plotting, lashings of invention and jump-off-the-page characterisation * Guardian * Excellent * Independent on Sunday * Intricate, charming and altogether surprising * New York Times * Historical fiction, magic realism and elements of gothic fiction combine in this ambitious debut * Irish Times * Delightful, relentlessly charming and deeply moving … Remarkable * Los Angeles Times *