I picked this novel up at the Kanata Grassroots Grannies book sale about a year ago, on the recommendation of a friend, and promptly forgot about it until I spotted it on our bookshelf recently. It presents a sprawling, glorious, vivid, panoramic portrait of the lives of ordinary English folk in the time frame from 1860 to 2017, complete with abundant orphaned or abandoned children, wars, early mysterious deaths and nostalgic searches for the answers and ancestors from an unknown past. Chapters headed only by Roman numerals narrated by the abandoned clockmaker’s daughter, are interspersed with dated chapters relating the lives of a wide variety of characters.
The clockmaker’s daughter, however, is a ghost who occupies the mysterious Birchwood Manor, a big country estate that is the site of lovers betrayals, murders, thefts, and intrigue. She fills in details of the lives of various owners and visitors over the years. Many of the characters are somehow connected to the dark world of late nineteenth century artists, whether real or fictional, and their quest for fame and riches. The plot includes the familiar fiction device of a missing antique gem of inestimable value, but this is not a major part of the story.
The plot is complex and intimately woven, with a long elapsed time frame and a lot of flashbacks and a host of characters. But I never felt either blindsided by sudden unpredictable and unlikely plot twists, or completely lost in keeping the characters straight. And the symbolism of the passage of time and clocks is never far below the surface. “A fool wants to shorten space and time. A wise man wants to lengthen both.” The many loose ends are largely resolved in the last few chapters.
As befits a story mainly set in Victorian-era England, there are several illicit sexual trysts, but they are never described in explicit pornographic detail. The professional thieves and street pickpockets are as interesting as those in Oliver Twist.
As a reflection of the substantial challenges faced by folk living in England during the long time span, this novel is a great reminder of the importance of using time wisely. A more modern Dickens tale that is well worth reading.
The Passionate Reader 