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Nell Young is called to the New York Public Library (map section) where her estranged father has been found dead at his desk. Natural causes, apparently, or could it be something else? Since Nell has never forgiven her father for getting her sacked from the NYPL over a worthless 'glove-box' road map she has mixed feelings, but gradually small things begin to add up and Nell is drawn into what appears to be a conspiracy of silence about this road map involving a shady group called the Cartographers, and powerful secrets. I love maps, so I picked this one out to review, but the pacing was a bit off, which made it a slow read. The magic, when it came, was fascinating, but it was a long time coming, so the first part of this read like a straightforward murder mystery. Maybe the clues were too subtle for me.A lot of the story - long sections of it - is told to Nell by friends and colleagues of her parents, so there's a lot - a lot - of exposition. Nell's part in all this is to find the people (her parents' university cohort) who will relate what happened 20+ years ago as they found the magic in the map. Sadly, the magic itself, though a great premise, is not really explained.
As a debut novel, this shows a lot of promise. London, 1754. Zachary inherits his (dead) mother's second sight, which shows itself even as a small child. After an accident in which he loses an eye, he seems to have even more visions, sometimes of the future, sometimes of the past. His father, Abel, runs a clockmaking business which also makes automata, fantastic creations, very popular with the aristocracy. After his accident (for which Abel blames himself) Zak is raised in the country by his bonkers Aunt Frances, and the indomitable Mrs Morley who was Zak's wet-nurse and whose daughter, Leonora, is like a sister. The first part of this book is Zac growing up and the various incidents. It's difficult to tell who is the focus of this story. For the first part it's definitely Abel with side trips to the Morley household. It's not until Abel is sent off to Constantinople (as a spy) and disappears into the Sultan's palace, never to be seen or heard from again, that Zak (now aged 15) comes into his own and at last becomes the main protagonist. There's a Dickensian cast of fascinating and quirky characters, but I confess I found this a little slow at times. I didn't really become attached to any of the main characters, though Zachary grows