The Clockwork Girl – novel set in Paris – Anna Mazzola

Submitted: 24th February 2022

A Clockwork Girl in Paris

The Clockwork Girl – novel set in Paris – Anna Mazzola

In a (clockwork) nutshell, this is one of the most amazing, evocative, gothic, magical yet dark and chilling delight I have read in a long while.

The setting and atmosphere is exquisite. Paris in the 1750s is a maze of darkness, poverty and workshops making everything from hats, shoes and clockwork toys. This is so intrinsically evoked that it’s very visual and you can literally see it all, feel the rain, hear the hansom cabs and sense the shadows. As soon as I heard about this fantastical workshop, I wanted to go there myself!

BookTrail locations in The Clockwork Girl

The Clockwork Girl - novel set in Paris - Anna Mazzola

Boarding Pass Information : The Clockwork Girl

Destination : 1750s Paris and the inner workings of a clockmaker’s workshop

Author guide: Finland’s quirky crime master Anna Mazzola

Genre: gothic and historical

Food and drink to accompany: Macaroons on gold plates for the Versailles scenes!

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BookTrail locations in The Clockwork Girl

A magical, wonderfully evocative novel that takes you to a dark, deceptive place where nothing is as it seems…

You can tell already how much I loved this novel. The clockwork toys, characters and settings leap from the page. Oh how this played out in my mind!

Our main character Madeleine goes to work for Clockmaker Reinhart makes all kinds of toys and creatures in his little workshop. She works as a maid in a brothel and the local chief of Police is not a stranger to this place. One day he sends her to spy on this man as there is increasing interest in just what he is making, what robotic and mechanical magic is he up to?

At the same time, children are going missing on the streets of the city, yet the police seem unconcerned. There is no explanation for this but since the children are poor, they are deemed to be unimportant. The mechanical toys are what is attracting the attention of people now!

BookTrail locations in The Clockwork Girl

The idea of someone in a workshop making mechanical toys for rich clients is wonderful. We see what he makes, the excitement it brings, the delighted chatter it spreads and you can hear the whir of the cogs.

Madeline’s mission was tough as she had to go to the workshop, befriend the daughter and snoop where she should not. When the clockmaker is offered a role from the King, she finds herself at the heart of Versailles! Gilt walls and rich food? Well yes, but you find out that it also smells of wee.. who knew?

The King orders a particular mechanical gift and the clockmaker is tested in both skill and time. Meanwhile, Madeline is making a note of it all. However, the King’s concubine is equally as inquisitive as she is. Not to mention the clockmakers daughter…

BookTrail locations in The Clockwork Girl

The story was created as exquisitely as the clockwork toys it contains. Many parts of the story are real threads of time such as the automata created and fascination for it really did capture the imagination of Paris at that time. Sadly, the story of children going missing is also true. The author takes these two cogs, winds it with fictional threads, pointers of a time gone by and faces of characters which form the finished gift of a novel.

This is a gothically magical novel with a creepy and disturbing thread. One scene, as the clockmaker unveils his latest creation….I was spellbound and disturbed in equal measure. I am a very visual reader and the images conjured in my mind will linger for some time.

A treat of a novel, a story that takes on a life of its own and completely and utterly transports you to a world of magic and deception