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.

Natasha Pulley's first novel The Watchmaker of Filigree Street was a Sunday Times bestseller, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. Her second novel,The Bedlam Stacks was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize while The Lost Future of Pepperharrow was published in 2020 to widespread critical acclaim, cementing her reputation as one of the most original and exciting writers at work. She lives in Bristol.

@natasha_pulley

'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

Strange things are happening in Tokyo. As war with Russia looms, the city is plagued by strange electricity storms, while the staff at the British Legation have gone on strike, claiming that the building is haunted.

Thaniel Steepleton is sent over from London to act as interpreter, bringing with him his partner, Keita Mori the watchmaker, their adopted daughter, Six, and Mori's clockwork octopus, Katsu. Thaniel is dazzled by life in Tokyo, but he feels increasingly out of his depth - especially when he meets Takiko Pepperharrow, and learns of her connection to Mori.

But then Mori disappears, and Thaniel and Takiko's paths diverge as they desperately try to find him. As their searches lead them to snow-steeped prisons and mountainside shrines, Thaniel is faced with the terrifying revelation that Mori's powers are no longer enough to save them - and that the watchmaker's time may have run out.

Natasha Pulley's extraordinary new novel, The Kingdoms, will be available in Spring 2021.