Friday, 18 October 2024

The Clockwork Girl, Anna Mazzola

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It’s 1750 and the people of Paris are experiencing a freezing winter. Madeleine lives with her mother, nephew, and sister in the Rue Thévenot, an insalubrious area of the city. Their father having died some years before, their mother set up a brothel, using her daughters’ innocence to tempt early customers. Véronique has just returned to Paris from a convent in which she was deeply unhappy. She is struggling to adjust to life back in the city and to re-connect with her father, Doctor Reinhart, who she desperately wants to impress so that he will train her to be a clockmaker, a career not widely considered acceptable for a woman. When Madeleine is coerced into becoming a police spy at the Reinhart household the two young women connect. They may have been born into very situations but there is shared pain and an understanding of the limitations they live under because of their sex. When children start disappearing from the streets, rumours abound that they are being taken for nefarious uses. Riots break out on the streets but the police seem to have very little interest. Will Madeleine get to the bottom of it, and does Reinhart’s secret commission for the King have something to do with it? A dark tale unfolds with many twists and turns along the way, leaving you feeling as Madeleine does, that you’re never quite sure of who you can trust.


Mazzola carefully builds the world of the novel, transporting the reader to the dark, cold world of eighteenth century Paris. Even the halls of Versailles, held up as a place of extravagance and luxury, are given a realistic portrayal - the smells, the intrigue, and boredom of those who inhabit it. The Reinhart household feels unwelcoming, the master having been alone with his experiments for too long. It offers the hope of escape for Madeleine but she’s uncomfortable in her role and unsure of what she’ll find. Her home has long been dangerous, her mother seeing all her daughters as a means to an end rather than showing them affection and concern. It is clear that experience has shown Madeleine that money will always come first and she wants desperately to take her nephew away from such a dangerous, cold environment.


Véronique is an interesting character. Her mother died in childbirth and she was sent to a convent for schooling. The scars from that time continue to haunt her, but she is intelligent and strong-willed although slightly unsure of herself. When she hears of the vanishing children she is keen to help discover what is causing the disappearances. Madeleine begins to show her the darker parts of Paris and she does not shy away from them, willing to look beyond her own experiences and understand that not everyone has been born with the privileges she has. They begin to feel genuine friendship kindle, but will it be able to survive Madeleine’s deceit, and Véronique’s secrets?


A recurring theme throughout is the class divide and power imbalances. The police prove themselves to be untrustworthy and willing to do anything to get what they want, even if it means destroying innocent lives. They are corrupt and not above intimidation, as Madeleine soon discovers, but the levels of depravity are shocking. The missing children also highlight how the poorer members of society are viewed, the police not considering their loss worth investigating, making them easy targets for criminals as they know they’re unlikely to be investigated. The Reinharts also own an enslaved person, Joseph, who appears to be treated fairly well by the Doctor, but who makes it clear to Madeleine that he and his loved ones have suffered a great deal. One of the first children to go missing is an enslaved boy, and it is made abundantly clear that this was not a coincidence, that the perpetrator knew the authorities wouldn’t bat an eyelid. On the flip side, we see in Madame de Pompadour the effort required to leave behind any slight stains on the family history, and how much work it takes to maintain a position of privilege. There are always those out to benefit from your downfall, and even being the King’s mistress is an incredibly uncertain position. 


This is a book which keeps you turning the pages. Mazzola seamlessly combines real characters from history, and uses, for example, Louis XV’s interest in clockwork to build a story which is appropriate to the time and believable. The atmosphere of the novel is often dark and unsettling but with intriguing characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing, it is an enjoyable reading experience. Fans of The Doll Factory or The Winter Garden will love this.


Pick up a copy:

Bookshop

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