I really enjoyed Lusk’s book, an impulse purchase on a recent bookshop visit. It tells the story of a number of people, despite what I have written in my short comment, as it is about Zachary, yes, but it is also in many ways about the people who surround him too.
The book begins with Zachary’s birth and from this moment, we centre on Abel, Zachary’s father as he tries to balance taking care of his son and running a successful clockmaking and automaton creation business. Abel gains the assistance of Mrs Morley, a wet nurse, in providing sustenance and babysitting for Zachary while he works, and he also has the offer of help from Frances, his wife’s aunt, who whilst overbearing, does have Zachary’s well-being at heart, as well as her own.
Along with Tom, one of Abel’s workers, Samuels, a trusted servant, and Leonora, Mrs Morley’s daughter, Zachary has a family albeit motley, with whom he thrives.
However, when Abel is commissioned to go to Turkey and disappears, believed dead, Zachary decides to find him and embarks on a brave solo adventure to seek him out.
There are lots of things to like about this book. Firstly, automatons. They are, to me, fascinating and whilst their mechanicals are not talked about in intricate detail in the story, their presence adds an extra element to the novel just by their very nature and their inclusion.
Secondly, its Dickensian feel. It is not Dickens but the atmosphere of the piece certainly gives a nod to Dickens and this gives the novel an air of quality from the outset.
Thirdly, its unconventional characters and the way that they have been created by Lusk: Tom and what would have been at the time the book is set his unusual choice of lifestyle with relevance today; Samuels, who, like Jeeves in Wodehouse is a fixer, mysterious and controlled at all times and very capable; Frances, the aunt who wants everyone to dance to her tune and is not shy in trying to contrive that they do; Mrs Morley, a woman who is determined to keep her independence and find her own way, despite the odds.
And Zachary himself is an oddment, whose unusual capabilities pervade the text and are central to the action of the book.
An imaginative story which makes for good reading with great pace and characters.
Scuffed Granny 