★★★★☆ Thaniel and Mori and Mori's secret wife in Japan

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow

Natasha Pulley

I complained in my review of Natasha Pulley's The Watchmaker of Filigree Street that "The ending of the book left me confused. I wasn't sure what had just happened, and there were loose ends that were not tied up, or perhaps merely seemed so in my confusion." I hoped that this sequel would clear up my confusion, and it did that. And it also tells a big story of Keita Mori.

Who is this "Pepperharrow" named in the title? It turns out that all this time Mori has had a secret wife, Takiko Pepperharrow, living on his estate back in Japan. Takiko's father was English -- thus the non-Japanese name Pepperharrow. Takiko is the main point-of-view character of this novel. She's an impressive woman, a theater owner who acquired her theater and her position by threatening the former owner. Mori had a use for her, so he abetted her schemes. They married and she went to live on his Yokohama estate Yoruji.

We start the book with Thaniel back in London and Mori in Russia. All Hell is about to break loose in Japan because new Prime Minister Kiyotaki Kuroda is playing naval power games. Thaniel, as the best Japanese speaker in the foreign office, is sent to Japan to help out. Mori accompanies him there. Thaniel's estranged wife Grace Carrow (now Dr Grace Matsumoto) is there teaching physics.

These are the pieces in the game Mori plays. As in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, we are never inside Mori's head -- he is not a point-of-view character. We see his machinations from the outside only.

This one feels more serious than The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. The stakes this time are geopolitical disaster. Indeed, it becomes clear that even back in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Mori was playing the opening moves of the game whose final half is here recounted. Without getting specific, I will say that there is tragedy as well as joy and farce.

It's a good one. If you liked The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, you certainly want to read The Lost Future of Pepperharrow.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow on Amazon

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