The Bedlam Stacks

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street #1.5

by Natasha Pulley

In 1859, ex–East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall with an injury that almost cost him his leg. When the India Office recruits him for an expedition to fetch quinine--essential for the treatment of malaria--from deep within Peru, he knows it's a terrible idea; nearly every able-bodied expeditionary who's made the attempt has died, and he can barely walk. But Merrick is eager to escape the strange events plaguing his family's crumbling estate, so he sets off, against his better judgment, for the edge of the Amazon.

There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettling stories of impossible disappearances, cursed woods, and living stone. Merrick must separate truth from fairy tale, and gradually he realizes that Raphael is the key to a legacy left by generations of Tremayne explorers before him, one which will prove more valuable than quinine, and far more dangerous.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Magical Realism, Adventure, LGBT

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2017

About the author

Natasha Pulley is the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Bedlam Stacks, and quite a lot more. An international bestseller, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, the Locus Awards, and remained on the Sunday Times bestseller list for much of summer 2016. The Bedlam Stacks was longlisted for the Walter Scott Award and shortlisted for the Encore Award.

Natasha has lived in Japan as a Daiwa Scholar, as well as China and Peru. She was a 2016 Gladstone Writer in Residence, and she teaches Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, alongside short courses at the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. She has also taught various courses for the Arvon Foundation and is always happy to be contacted about other residential teaching too.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a multi-genre crossing novel that caught me by surprise and I felt as if I had to acclimatise myself to this strange beast of a book. I began by reading fast but kept on having to go back to make sure I had understood what was happening until I accepted this was going to be a slowly savoured read. It is beautifully written historical fiction, with elements of the supernatural and the probing of mysteries and expert world building underpinned with whimsy. Merrick Tremayne has been crippled whilst operating as a smuggler for the East India Company. He is living with his brother, Charles, on the crumbling Heligan Estate in Cornwall where crows bartar their ill gotten gains, statues move and trees explode, setting off a multitude of fires. Charles threatens Merrick with the asylum or to take up the position of a parson. The India Office wish Merrick to undertake a expedition to Peru to acquire cinchona cuttings. There has been a terrible outbreak of malaria in India for which quinine is required. This offer is absurd, Merrick is physically not capable, Peru is a dangerous place with men from recent expeditions murdered and other lurking problems. Merrick's precarious position and the persuasive qualities of his friends Clem and Minna push him to agree to go. He has family connections to Peru and his experience as a gardener makes him ideal. He would rather die in Peru than live in misery at home.

This is a story of friendship, love, magic, different cultures, intrigue, tradition and adventure. The journey by ship involves Merrick teaching the art of taking cuttings, the preponderance of sea sickness and a decision by the pregnant Minna to not join the quest. Martel, who seems to have an inexplicable hold on Raphael, insists that Merrick and Clem are guided by Raphael. There is more to Raphael than they expected. He is from New Bethlehem, or Bedlam, and is a priest. Watching the evolving relationship between Raphael and Merrick is a joy to observe. Bedlam is infused with myth, folklore and superstition, the villagers cannot entering the Forbidden Forest or cross the salt line. The Martayuk are sacred stone statues revered by the community, shrouded in mysticism and wonder. However, Raphael can cross the salt line as a priest. With strange happenings, the question arises as to how it is possible that Raphael knows Merrick's grandfather when he is patently too young? Is it possible to lose time? Will Merrick be able to return with the cuttings and Raphael?

This is a novel that grows on you the more you read of it. It has such beautiful prose with wonderful descriptions such as of Peru and coffee. The imagery is vivid and vibrant, ensnaring the reader with ease. However, it may take a little while to get hooked on the story, so perseverance is essential. The author has clearly done her research on this period and Peru. It is the characters that cemented my love for this kooky book and the relationship between Merrick and Raphael is outlined with subtlety, flair and expertise. The novel also touches on important issues of the day such as race, treatment of native communities, imperialism, politics and religion. A disarming read, which as I reflect upon it, is quite likely to induce me to up my rating to 5 stars. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.

[Lottie from book club · Rating 5 out of 5]

you know that bit in Pride and Prejudice (2005) with the hand flex? and then the deleted end scene where he calls her Mrs Darcy and they kiss? THAT’S HOW THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere in the first third of The Bedlam Stacks I remember remarking to a friend that if it went any slower it would stop. Not that it was a bad book. On the contrary it was beautifully written and had a lot of promise - but it was so slow.....

And here I am at the end of the same book giving it five heartfelt stars. What happened? Well firstly I fell in love with the main character, Merrick Tremayne. He was just so nice and so irrepressible, and the narrator of the audio version made him sound like someone I would really like to know! Secondly things started to happen and there was plenty going on once we reached Bedlam and beyond the salt line. Thirdly there was the relationship between Merrick and Raphael which was beautifully written and very touching.

The history of quinine and the East India Company was fascinating, as were the stone statues which moved. A hint here - do not read this book if you dislike magical realism. There is a whole lot of fantastical stuff going on which you may not be able to swallow if you like your fiction real.

I will take mine any which way when it is written like this. Keep up the good work Ms. Pulley and I am looking forward to your next book.

[Jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, when I read a book as tedious as this, I do tend to question why on earth I don't just abandon it, but the problem is, I just can't. I feel like I'm obliged to finish it. I am hugely disappointed with this one. I mean, it was mind numbingly boring and it dragged like hell. After reading mostly good reviews, reading the rather interesting plot and just soaking in the beauty of that gorgeous book cover, I really thought I was in for a treat. I was wrong.

First off, I dislike Pulley's style of writing. I feel that she attempts to be descriptive in her style, but it lacks the beauty to make the plot wonderful. The plot is bland, and is a largely a mess. The character development is non existent, leaving me not giving a single festive shit about any of their fates, and little pieces of random information is stuck in various places in the book, that seem to have no connection to the actual story itself. I feel like I've been in a dreadfully long slumber, and I've woken feeling inhuman. I'm looking forward to putting this book away, and getting stuck into something new!

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He could have hurt you."

I nodded. He could have. But it felt good to have stood in front of him without flinching and, however stupid it was, I wanted to do it again.

If you read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street then you may already know this, but first time readers need to understand going into this book: it requires some patience. I wouldn't describe it as slow because changing the pace would be changing the feeling of the book itself, I would much rather describe it as peaceful and lovingly written.

I can hardly wrap my head around the beautiful world Pulley built in The Bedlam Stacks, it's so unlike anything I've ever read before. I was filled with wonder at every little piece of magic that fell into place. Every single detail has so much beauty and uniqueness, Pulley truly raises the bar for magical realism.

And then, of course, the reason I was so excited for this book in the first place: the slow burn love story. Beneath the intriguing plot and magical world-building is the absolute sweetest story of two people coming to love each other in the process of learning about each other. They don't realize it as it's happening, until they just let themselves lean into it, and each other, when they do. You hardly notice it when it's happening, until you look back and see their beautiful dance for what it was. The intimacy Pulley achieved through wordless conversations and the relief in being known is so beautiful. I wish a love story like this one wasn't so rare.

Overall: same as I said when I finished Watchmaker, ONE MILLION STARS. I highly recommend to anyone, but go into The Bedlam Stacks with willingness to go at its pace to really get the utmost out of it.

[Nicole Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who knows me knows how much I loved Watchmaker, and it's clear that Natasha Pulley is only going to keep growing as a writer! Fans of Watchmaker will enjoy certain cameos, but the new characters are all fantastic, and this mystical, complex Peruvian landscape is irresistible!

Disclaimer: I work for the publisher. (Double disclaimer: I took this job because of how much I loved Watchmaker.)

[Lucy Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful imagery, highly creative, but no real drive to it.

The cover alone made me desperate to get hold of this book, not to mention the description. Exploding trees? Strange events in Peru? Sign me up now, please!

The premise is an excellent one. A mission to travel to Peru's dark underbelly, to seize quinine (necessary for the treatment of malaria) - beset by threat, magical events, and plenty of mystery - who is this Raphael, and how on earth can he possibly know Merrick's grandfather, when he's not nearly old enough?

However, unfortunately, I found it a little difficult to get into this book. From the start, I was puzzled by Merrick. His voice and mannerisms were distinctly 'old-mannish', yet other snippets of information suggested he was younger. I was also puzzled by where the book was going - there never quite seemed to be enough drive to make me want to know what happened next. I persevered, and in places, I was quite entranced (the pollen scenes were just gorgeous), but there were several places where I wasn't convinced I wanted to continue.

I sense this might be just me though - certainly loads of other people loved this book to bits. The magical realism element is very well done - I personally thought the exploding tree added a lovely level of intrigue to the start, not to mention a hint of danger. I'd definitely give some of her other books a go - I think her style of writing is lovely, very detailed and rich. Perhaps this just wasn't the right book choice for me.

[Elle Maruska · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers!]

This book leaves me feeling...conflicted.

Conflicted in almost every way. Its pace, its subject matter, its characters--all of these facets have both lots of positive points in their favor but yet almost as many strikes against them. The writing is very good; descriptive without being exhausting, beautiful without turning purple. I enjoyed the writing on its own very much. But the story.

It's at once simple but also needlessly spun out. I felt throughout that I was reading a lot of nothing leading up to minimal pay-offs. There were plot points that fizzled out into dead-ends, conflicts that were wrapped up with very little concern, characters that I felt were almost useless in propping up the main goals of the book. The main character is likable and relatable but his voice, at times, is very modern for a book taking place in the mid-1800s. It was jarring at times, vague anachronisms that interrupted the flow of the story. I also really don't know how to feel about some aspects of the plot; it's a careful business, writing about agents of the British Empire and their adventures abroad. You're skirting around a difficult history of torture, imperial violence, out and out genocide and I feel like this book didn't play for any balance. The imperial danger is barely mentioned, and resolved in a way that struck me as...white savior-ism, to an extent.

The relationships in the book are very...unsatisfying. Nothing comes of much of them, or they're handled almost superficially. I'm all for slow burns but not if they fizzle into nothing, not if you build up a sort of almost super-human devotion and allow it to go absolutely nowhere.

Even after writing this all out, I'm still conflicted. I think I WANTED to like this book more than I actually did because there are so many interesting and beautiful threads here and the writing is so good, but altogether the tapestry is muddied.

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, with a rich setting, wonderful twists, a dramatic plot and fantastic characterisation. I can't recommend it enough. Natasha Pulley is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

[anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

rep: mlm physically disabled mc, Peruvian mlm li

edit: reading this for the second time???? not my brightest idea :<<<<

this is such a slow, rich, delicate, magical story!! it's not slow in the uneventful kind of way tho but rather: the beautiful, old-fashioned writing causes u to slow down, to notice & properly appreciate every little detail. this glacial pace makes perfect sense for a plot like this one as well... & yes, it takes a while before u get accustomed to that rhythm but oh! once u do!!

it's also one of the most hopeful stories i've read in a long time (at least when u don't think abt what will happen after...) & for its ending alone i would give this book all the stars in the sky.

[Snooty1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review***

The term slow burn was created for this novel.
At first, I was thinking that the story was rather slow...wondering if I would get into it. Then next thing I know, I can't get this book out of my head. Again...its not a thriller in any way and yet you get to care so much about the characters as well as the culture of this book that you find yourself yearning to find out what happens next. There were times I wasn't even sure what I WANTED to happen. I had a feeling I knew what the twist was going to be...and it didn't bother me in the least. It actually made the story that much more beautiful.
This book is for the lover of character and world building. The writing is excellent and rhythmic, like following a lazy river with a cold drink in your hand.

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy filled and with a lot of warmth, but not as tight as the debut of Pulley
I realised he wasn’t crude work but the ruins of something fine - Merrick Treymane thinking about Rafael

General and world building
I can’t really review this book without keeping the The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley’s debut, in mind and I apologies in advance for multiple comparisons between both books which I will be making.

The story of The Bedlam Stacks focuses on Merrick Treymane, an ex employee of the recently nationalised East India Company (EIC). He is wished away from Cornwall and his brother Charles by a series of events involving exploding trees, moving statues and the precarious financial state his family estate is in.
I felt the way how he is send to Peru to be too obvious from the start, especially in how Pulley goes about explaining away any objections for a half crippled man to undertake such a venture. The power politics employed by the EIC are however beautifully sketched, through the delightful character of Sing, who shows enough fatherly instincts and ruthlessness to convince Merrick.

The first part I quite liked but then we get in Peru the fantasy richness of the world building goes up several notches and starts to include: the earlier mentioned exploding (and later on weightless) trees, moving, living stone turned people, mercury rain, a salt border of many many miles defended by natives, central water-based heating in the Peruvian inland, convenient and persistent snow in the heart of summer, glass rock formations amplifying the sunlight to make a river boil, luminous pollen which are caught into lamps, unmoving people, living unbelievably long, who also turn pale and shift hair colour whilst doing so, phoenix like ducks laying glass eggs...
If that sounds a bit much, that is because it is. In the end it did not surprise me, but did disappoint me, when we have a “giant eagle” style save by a Inca community floating in the clouds.

Storyline and characters
The story itself follows a bit the template of the Watchmaker, in the sense that the independent, stubborn and, in practical terms speaking, rather useless protagonist (Merrick/Thaniel) develops a friendship with a strong silent type person with magic like powers (Rafael/Keita). Unlike the Watchmaker this doesn’t end up in full on romantics, but the deliberate click between Rafael and Merrick was in my view rather obvious (also see the quote at the top of this review, just to get a feel on how Merrick around 2/3 of the Bedlam Stacks feels about Rafael).

As an important side character Clemens (Clem) Markham, a former senior officer of Merrick, is the voice of Western logic (like the wife of Thaniel). However I found Clem also enormously thick headed, rather unsympathetic and not so well rounded. Markham’s wife is portrayed as a kind of a saint, and all modern day in independent and liberal thinking, but does only returns at the very end of the book. Keita makes some minor cameos and it speaks true to the power of the Watchmaker of Filigree Street that these scenes were for me really the strongest in terms of emotional impact. Inti of the new characters is the only which really managed to struck a chord with me while I didn’t get Martel as a character, especially in relation to Rafael, at all.

What I missed most was the kind of philosophical battle, which did occur at the end of the Watchmaker of Filigree Street, pitting free will and predestination against each other through characters which you could both support.
In the end Bedlam Stacks is much more a conventional and dramatic love story kind of book than anything else and Pulley uses too much explaining plus fanciful convenient rules and events to drive the plot onwards to reach this end goal.

I must say that in terms of imaginative concepts and world building I thoroughly did like this book, if a bit overcrowded at times.
Maybe my expectations were to high but I feel this was a less strong book than Pulley her debut. <3.5 stars, rounded down

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars
“What's gone before you, and what will come after,' I said instead.
'Beg pardon?'
'The past ahead. Time is like a river and you float with the current. Your ancestors set off before you did, so they're far ahead. Your descendants will sail it after.”
There is a certain serene nonsensicalness to this. It has an edge of surrealism and fantasy added to a historical novel and a travelogue. In addition there is an element of steampunk as well. It is mainly set in Peru in and around the 1860s. It revolves around quinine and the attempts to steal some to be grown in other parts of the world. This is also an excuse for introducing plenty of references to Incan culture and mythology. So there are statures that move, pollen that does odd things, cloud cities, obsidian and much more.
The plot itself is simple. Merrick Tremayne works for the East India Company (that noble and pure institution!) and has spent time in India and was previously an opium smuggler running into China. He has an injured leg, but is persuaded by the Company and a couple of friends to go to Peru to steal cuttings from the trees that quinine is produced from. And so the adventure starts. The Bedlam of the title is the name of a village, a shortened form of Bethlehem. On the surface the story is well told and there is a sense of adventure or daring do. It’s a bit Jules Verne with clockwork, bees, pollen lamps, mercury, whitewood and much more. It works as a jolly japes adventure story, but unfortunately it sanitises something rather unpleasant.
At the heart of this is colonialism, with all its horrors. This is the summation of colonialism in the novel:
“Why do you hate Indians? You know white people are much worse, don't you? It isn't as though there's some kind of international bar you're not reaching out here. We're terrible at everything. Lasting much past forty-five. Learning more than one language. It's a miracle, actually; sickly prematurely aging worryingly inbred horsey idiots have managed to convince everyone else their way is best by no other means than firmness of manner and the tactical distribution of flags. I can't believe no one's called our bluff yet.”
This is set around the time of the first Indian War of Independence in 1857 and all the concomitant horrors. This is a sweetened version of Imperialism. It’s all a jolly adventure with the magic realism and interesting natives. I am a great fan of historical novels, but not this sort.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: death of a friend, discussion of miscarriage. I think that's all??

I'm gonna be perfectly honest here: I bought this book based solely on the cover. Well. Not SOLELY on the cover. I picked it up based solely on the cover, strongly thinking about buying it. Then I read the blurb and knew I 100% had to buy it. So I did.

Basically, Merrick Tremayne, an expert at getting plants out of exotic locations and planting them in British colonies, is recovering from a leg injury when his bosses at the East India Company turn up and are like "Heeeey, we need you to go to the depths of Peru and bring back some cinchona trees because India has hella malaria and the Peruvian government has a monopoly on quinine and it fucking sucks." He's all "Um. I basically can't walk??". They give zero fucks.

So he goes to Peru and finds himself in a small town called New Bethlehem. This town turns out to be a little bit magical and a little bit mysterious. It's full of people with disabilities, it's full of unexpected rules, and there's a biiiiig ol' connection to Merrick's family.

The writing was great. The characters were great. The story was compelling. I loved the dynamic between the characters. I loved the world. It was a little bit Doctor-Who-Weeping-Angels and a little bit Arthur-Conan-Doyle's-The-Lost-World. And it was a delight.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how to classify this book! Historical fiction, yes, but strange magical, paranormal influences too. The story is I suppose about the search for quinine to prevent and treat malaria, the monopoly of which was held by Peru. Merrick, the main character is a kind of horticultural spy sent to poach some cuttings of the chinoah tree. He has an advantage though, as he already has connections through his grandfather who traveled there before him. I loved the fictional elements of this centred around New Bedlam itself and the strange geology of the place. Also the fact that it was a hospital colony, where all disabled people were left to be raised and to live. As well as this, I think this is a love story of kinds...one I found very poignant.
#much enjoyed.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but it was a little pointless so it dragged a bit.

The story takes us into Peru, with Merrick and his buddy Markham on the hunt for the rare quinine so they can smuggle it out. It's 1860, and this rare ingredient is vital to the treatment of malaria, so a lot of people want it. That's pretty much the plot.

After 100 pages or so of meandering to the start point, finally the story makes its way and we're acquainted with Raphael, a local priest who is to be their guide. Enter strange dynamics and a weird religious twist involving clockwork statues.

I think part of why I feel so ambivalent towards this novel is because it's hard to pinpoint what genre its going for. It seems like historical fiction with a sense of whimsy, but then there's that strange clockwork element and random fantasy-like moments that really mess with the vibe. I wasn't ever really sure how much I was supposed to suspend disbelief. Doesn't help that it's set against a very real historical backdrop.

The writing is good, and it does suck you in with the lyrical detail. I found myself bored with the story at times but never really bored with the writing. I do really enjoy Pulley's storytelling, I just think the stories she creates are a bit too bizarre for my tastes. Or not bizarre enough? Somehow, they don't seem to sit right for me.

The characters here are interesting enough, though at times their words didn't seem to suit the time period. There's also a guest appearance from a character those who've read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street will recognise. A sweet inclusion, but ultimately just another weird moment for me. I cannot pin down what this story was trying for.

The whole pointlessness of the plot did bother me, as there seemed to be no real goal. There was obstacles as they appeared, but no real drive behind the story to hold the interest.

Perhaps this will sit better with lovers of literary fiction, but it was just a little too random for my tastes. I really wanted to have more fun and adventure than I did. I enjoyed the reading of it, but nothing about it truly captivated me.

[mina reads™️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

He laughed. It showed how he had been when he was younger. Mild-mannered and handsome. In a shilling-spin of an instant I realised that he wasn’t crude work but the ruin of something fine.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAD A BIG CRY LADS

[G · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about The Bedlam Stacks is it'll make a good movie.

Merrick Tremayne, late of the East India Company, is nursing a bad leg in a crumbling estate (are there any estates in Britain not crumbling, I wonder?) when old Navy pal Clem asks him to join a mission to steal quinine from the Peruvian government. Clem has anger issues and occasionally slaps Merrick around but we're supposed to accept they're good buds. There's also Clem's wife Minna, who is really only there to get pregnant; Keita, a Japanese boy who can see the future (never explained); Martel, drastically underused as the only human antagonist for much of the book; and his hostage-servant-friend-??? Raphael, the priest of the glass town of Bedlam where everyone is deformed in some way, and who when he isn't gloomily tending to stone statues likes to vanish into the forest that's been forbidden the rest of Bedlam on pain of death (strictly enforced).

Merrick is supposed to be finding a way through those forbidden (and very flammable) trees, but the weirdness of his surroundings and the weirdness of his host Raphael, who's connected somehow to his long-dead grandfather, distracts him, holding him essentially in place for long, long, long pages. Which is the ultimate problem with this book. Because the world is strange enough, and pretty enough, and there's drama enough: glass mountains and legends of living stone and a power far older than the Inca in the floating trees beyond the glowing pollen of unmapped Peru.

But still it's dry as the stone markayuq so much of this story depends on - like a transcript of a great adventure written in repetitive fashion (literally: Merrick warns Raphael about there being a gun less than fifty pages after Raphael was struck by it in front of Merrick himself), and read by an accountant.

There's death and no one reacts, not even the closest loved ones; we get a couple bland mentions of guilt and a time skip at the end. There are several very unhealthy relationships that should lead to all sorts of heartbreak but instead it's like a soap opera where everyone reads their lines in monotone. Blizzards when it should be summer and a character alternately glaring at and smiling fondly at The Bad Guy without a bit of background into what's up with them - no one reacts to anything in this book, not really.

The writing itself is - fine. Technically inoffensive, though with a few typos here and there. There is a tinge, but only a very bare and unstated tinge, of male/male romance. 'Blink and you miss it' stuff. It's possible that the romance and also the entire novel was just too subtle and understated and British for my brash American needs. But subtle can be very, very skilled and cruel if you don't make it boring.

The Bedlam Stacks also has a very weird grasp of things as far as the colonialism theme goes. Merrick isn't dumb; he says at one point that "you know white people are much worse, don't you?", though he then turns it into a joke: "We're terrible at everything. Lasting much past forty-five. Learning more than one language. It's a miracle, actually; sickly prematurely aging worrying inbred horsey idiots have managed to convince everyone else their way is best by no other means than firmness of manner and the tactical distribution of flags."

So he knows full well that when a small nation forbids the East India Company its resources, stone guardians or no stone guardians, the East India Company will blow the shit out of that nation until it gives in. The book is set in the 1800s in the glory days of British Empire so I'm not expecting Merrick to have modern standards regarding imperialism. He does try in several ways up to and including murder to save Bedlam from British Invasion, not because he disagrees with the idea of Britain invading places but because he likes the people of Bedlam and doesn't want to see them bombed into oblivion. Ok, fine, the time period was ripe for white man's burden.

But you are supposed to root for him, I think, he is so damned affable (a flaw - if he'd been less affable at key moments the book would have been more interesting!) and yet at one late point he agrees to go off to the Congo rubber plantations should he survive Peru, and, well.

If you need an example of the cruelty of man and empire you have to look no farther than the slaughter and slavery of the Congo rubber trade. It's hard to root for a guy who is super chill about the Congo. And for a book which tosses that in there as an aside. More 'blink and you miss it' but with massacres.

Anyway.

Get the right actors in here, play up the steampunk and the outsider-learns-from-noble-natives and all that shlock and you'll have quite a fitting Hollywood epic. But as a novel, it's ultimately just a bunch of very dull pages sandwiched between a very pretty hardback.

The glow pollen is pretty cool, though. I like the glow pollen.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*
“What's gone before you, and what will come after,' I said instead.
'Beg pardon?'
'The past ahead. Time is like a river and you float with the current. Your ancestors set off before you did, so they're far ahead. Your descendants will sail it after.”

After having enjoyed The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, I couldn’t wait to see what Pulley would offer us next. Once more the trope of Time is omnipresent but dealt in a very different way. We are introduced to Merrick Tremayne, a Cornish young man, former opium smuggler for the East India Company, now confined to his family’s crumbling estate, recovering ever so slowly from an accident that shattered his leg. His outlook is bleak, until he is roped back into a dangerous mission to steal cinchona cuttings from Peru (plant rich in quinine, used to fight malaria), country that has the monopoly on its sale. The story features also the explorer and geographer Sir Clements Markham, a real historical figure, that Pulley ‘uses’ to be Merrick’s companion.

The narrative feels fluid, with a first-person narration with cleverly inserted flashbacks, and shifting from a historical adventure to magical realism. Peru and the Andes become this fantastic land peopled by disconcertening beliefs, puzzling ways, and moving statues! We are lead down the rabbit hole ever so slowly and yet in a fashion that is totally compelling. At the centre of it all, Pulley once more looks into what makes people tick!

Once more, this author has crafted a story that stays with you long after you’ve finished the last page.

P.S.: In the late 90s, I visited Cornwall and went to the ‘recently’ re-opened “Lost Gardens of Heligan”! Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be Merrick’s familial abode. I do believe the author went there. See...

[Viv JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook which was, I must say, exceptionally well narrated by David Thorpe. The story was a mash up of historical fiction and fantasy/magical realism - reasonably diverting and entertaining, but I don't think I'll remember much about it in a month or two.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wondrous and fun read! What is it about British women who write fantasy-type novels? Something special, that is for sure.

Merrick Treymayne has been an intrepid agent for the East India Company but now he is laid up in the family home with a bum leg. (Thanks to Shadow of the Moon I was grooved in on the circumstances of that august company in 1859.) His former boss at the India Office recalls him for an expedition to fetch quinine from the Amazonian region of Peru.

Clem Markham, based on a historical figure, and Merrick's best friend, is to lead the expedition. He is one of those gung-ho types and convinces his friend that he can make it in the jungle despite the leg. Merrick does but his leg hurts the whole time and he is forever grousing about it.

The best character in this story full of amazing characters, is Rafael, a Peruvian Catholic priest. He is also the preserver of Andean spiritual traditions and cares for the markayuq: wooden statues which are considered to be actual people turned to stone, can move around in mysterious ways, and are guardians of sacred spaces.

(OK, so in the two volumes I've read so far of N K Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy, The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate, there are creatures called Stone Eaters, humans who turn to stone! Is this a thing? I have not come across this in any book before.)

Raphael is himself afflicted with a degenerative condition that gives him bouts of unconsciousness lasting anywhere from hours to months, is very old, very wise, has known two ancestors of Merrick's who also made expeditions to Peru, and becomes Merrick's best friend ever.

Bedlam is a village, also called New Bethlehem. The author's imagination and world-building skills make it one the most astonishing creations I have ever found in fantasy.

The novel is also historical fiction because the East India Company did send expeditions to Peru to obtain quinine from the bark of cinchona trees, desperately needed to treat its workers in the East who suffered from malaria. So there is another whole plot concerning the dastardly practices of people trying to bring cuttings of the tree out of Peru and the natives who seek to prevent this First World rip-off of their natural resources.

By now, I hope you are dying to read the book and I hope you do. I must warn you that as thrilling as it is, it does not move at a thriller pace. The opening section at Merrick's home is confusing in the extreme. You just have to go with it because all becomes, mostly, clear by the end. The bits that remain mysterious are lost in the mists of time and explain why world travelers always put Machu Picchu on their bucket lists.

[emma]

oooooops I was enjoying this but my copy expired, I'll have to pick up a new copy soon!

-------------------------------

buddy read with my name twin <3

hoping we both enjoy this!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since I finished The Watchmaker of Filigree Street last July, this is the book I’ve been more excited to read than any other. Back before even the title had been announced, when all I knew about it was that Natasha Pulley was writing another book, this time about a priest and a gardener in Peru, featuring exploding ducks at some point – and even that much was just what I managed to glean from her tweets – I was already looking forward to it with every fibre of my being, because I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve ever read that captured my heart as instantly and completely as The Watchmaker of Filigree Street did. There’s something about Natasha Pulley’s writing style that just resonates with my entire soul: the painstakingly researched, intricate web of incredibly disparate historical and scientific details are a joy for the mind; the idiosyncrasies that make every character come alive, and the gentle, cosy relationships that unfurl between them, warm my heart to its depths; and the subtle touches of magic, woven together so gradually that you barely notice the process until they coalesce into an entire tapestry of wonders, bewitch my imagination in a way that hardly any other books quite manage. That same style, which captivated me so completely in Watchmaker, is just as much in evidence in The Bedlam Stacks, and I can say with no hesitation whatsoever that this book has firmly cemented Natasha Pulley as one of my all-time favourite authors.

The Bedlam Stacks itself is a slow caress of a book. As most of the other positive reviews on here have mentioned, it requires patience. I read it quite slowly to begin with, because the first half of the book is a gentle meander to be savoured, not rushed. Several chapters read almost like a travelogue, which suits me down to the ground, particularly when the landscapes described are so steeped in myths and traditions and history, but that’s certainly not all this book is. In fact, I read the last third of the book in one single sitting well after midnight, because while it’s somehow just as gentle and full of wonder as the preceding two thirds, it also ratchets up the pace and tension to a level where putting the book down became almost unthinkable. It’s a truly impressive balancing act.

There are two aspects of this book that need to be mentioned individually. First, the characters: as in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, each of the main characters is drawn in loving detail, with a distinct voice and quirks of personality that make each of them come alive instantly. There’s a cameo from a certain Watchmaker character who well and truly stole the show, and another character perhaps impressed me most with how vividly he came to life despite being described so briefly, given that he only appears in one single flashback chapter, but each and every one of the main characters stole my heart in their own way. Somehow, Natasha Pulley’s characters almost always manage to be quietly likeable, without becoming trite or blurring into each other. I’m also particularly fond of the way she writes dialogue - there are a number of offbeat, deadpan lines which just sound so incredibly human, and remind me of the way I tend to talk to my friends, and I’m always helplessly charmed by them.

And secondly: the magic. As I’ve already mentioned, the magic in this book creeps up on you gradually. There are so many unusual, little-known, borderline fantastical concepts in this book that are entirely based in history or science - the solar storm, the cinchona trees, the markayuq, to name a few - that when things that have no basis in reality, like the candle ivy, start appearing, or when perfectly real things start behaving in ways that they perhaps shouldn’t, it’s almost impossible to quite catch sight of the line separating reality from myth and magic. It’s immersive, and utterly captivating, with scenes scattered through the book that are so powerfully vivid that I know they’ll stay with me for a long, long time. I have to admit though, that for most of the book I thought I had the magic sussed - most of it is telegraphed reasonably strongly, and I thought that I’d managed to predict the majority of it fairly accurately. But there was one more aspect of it that took me completely and utterly by surprise when it was unveiled right as the book was drawing to a close. Just like with everything else, the hints pointing to it had been scattered through the entire book, but they were subtler, and the payoff took my breath clean away.

As for the story itself, I was surprised and delighted by how many of its themes were ones that I find particularly fascinating. There was an emphasis on language throughout, and several passages about translation that, as a professional translator myself, startled me with their perceptiveness and insight. But more than anything else, this is a book about borders - physical borders, uncrossable borders, arbitrary borders, cultural borders, spiritual borders, borders between people, temporal borders, and the ways those borders can be overcome, so that connections can be found and forged in the unlikeliest of places.

All in all, I would highly recommend The Bedlam Stacks to anyone who’s willing to take it for what it is: a fairly slow-paced, quietly magical, sometimes thrilling, wonderfully whimsical, deeply human tale of how time changes all of us, but some more than others. I truly cannot wait to see what Natasha Pulley will write next.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a difficult book for me to review. In many ways it's excellent, and I enjoyed it a great deal, but I feel like I only understand its flaws and am at a loss with regards to how Pulley makes the successful parts succeed.

And it is mostly successful as indicated by my 5 star rating. Most of it is probably indeed better than Pulley's Watchmaker of Filigree Street, but I would say I found the ending of Watchmaker much more satisfying. I do feel there are echos of Watchmaker in the structure and pacing, as well a shared character appearing mostly in flashbacks in Bedlam Stacks.

This book probably won't work for everyone. Pulley's writing has what I can only describe as a stillness that I think is uncommon, and basically nothing happens for at least the first half of the book, and yet somehow miraculously it isn't boring, at least for me, quite the opposite. The stillness of the prose is such that events a murder which would likely be major inflection points in the hands of an action oriented writer here can pass without a ripple in the emotiional tone or suspense level of the story.

So how does it manage to be incredibly compelling despite a scarcity of actions or events that one can point to? I really don't understand this myself, but my best stab at an explanation is that in some magical, mysterious to me way, Pulley is making small, subtle personal (and interpersonal) moments very powerful. The stillness and lack of overt action might be key here, but it's a technique that I am, for now, baffled by.

I also suspect the anticipation of the building relationship might be key to it's success. I went into both this and Watchmaker expecting to get a low key but definite gay relationship, and I think someone who didn't could easily miss some of those subtle moments or not read into them the same meaning and therefore deprive them of their power.

It's not just the relationship that's subtle either, the fantastical elements of the story start out quite subtle too. Later on however it becomes a bit over the top, and while there was a similar shift in Watchmaker, here it's more extreme, to the overall detriment of the novel in my opinion. With Watchmaker I felt the fantastical elements of the story should have been established earlier, if betrayal of the reader by changing the story world part way through was a place, you could see it from Watchmaker. Bedlam Stacks is standing right next to it. There's an is it this, is it that type of question established early on, but what comes before is woefully inadequate preparation for the way the story suddenly goes full Narnia right before the end.

That however is not my real problem with the ending. My disappointment is more with the relationship status at the end, but the identities of the characters in fact might not leave any possible non-problematic relationship options, I'll discuss that more in the spoiler tags below though. Hart called this a queerplatonic romance, which fits well, but I would have liked something more solid at the end, be it sexual or not.

Definitely recommended for anyone to whom a queer platonic historical fantasy set in Peru sounds interesting. :) I will likely read this and Watchmaker again before Pulley's next book comes out.


Problem 1: I'm sorry, but a floating city of the Inca is just way too over the top. I'm basically letting it slide because I'm so invested in Merrick and Rafael.

Problem 2: I'd really have liked Merrick and Rafael get a happier ending, more like Watchmaker, I was expecting some kind of way to prevent the whole stone-man thing, or allow Merrick to somehow be with him despite that, but no :( But at the same time, the whole grandson thing is kind of squicky. Rafael's greif over Henry certainly suggests a relationship more intense than ordinary friendship to me, whether it was sexual in nature or not. For him essentially sleep away 70 years and then take up a similar relationship with Henry's grandson would be all kinds of problematic for me, which makes it good that Pulley kept their relationship more chaste than Keita and Thaniel's. But I'm conflicted over it since at the same time I'm repelled by the idea, I do want more for them. I don't see a good solution.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this novel from Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review – all thoughts are my own.

The Bedlam Stacks is the first historical fiction novel I have read, and it did not disappoint. This is also the first novel I have read by Pulley and I can easily say I will be going right ahead and purchasing her first novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, ASAP. Pulley’s writing is absolutely magical; I found myself caught up in her world.

The characters in this novel were intriguing – I loathed some, i.e. Clem – but I loved Merrick, our main protagonist, and Raphael so much. They were brilliantly created and the relationship between the two of them had me in tears by the end of the novel – both happy and sad! What they go through, and what they have been through, brings them closer together in the end, and it’s beautiful to read how much they care for each other and watch their friendship grow.

The characters all have their faults: some were stubborn, others had anger management issues – *cough* Clem *cough* – and some serious trust issues (the secrets were insane!). It was a nice change from the picturesque array of perfect characters we often see. I also found it refreshing to also have characters with disabilities, whether physical or mental. –I thought Merrick’s physical impairment, and his attitude towards it, were insightful.

The plot flowed quite well, with a few flashback chapters added to inform the reader on the characters’ pasts. The flashbacks weren’t disjointed, and meshed well with the main plot line.
I found the book to be whimsical at times, with mystery, forgotten pasts and adventure all intertwined throughout to give the reader a unique story that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

As a reader, it felt like Pulley’s research into Peru - not just the country and the layout/scenery, but also the history and language - was very extensive and it really showed throughout her writing.

Pulley’s attention to detail and world building was exceptional – I found myself vividly picturing what was occurring throughout the novel, and to me, that is exactly what a novel should do.

I am in awe of this novel and cannot wait to read more of Pulley’s work! It may have also started a small obsession with Peru and travelling.

[Becky]

DNF @ 25%
This sounded so interesting so I wanted to give it a go. However I felt like the characters were forever talking about going to do what they were gonna do - go to Peru to try and obtain some tree cuttings to farm quinine and never actually got there. It just dragged for anything to happen.
This sounded like it was going to have a lot of magical elements to it, but there really wasn’t much going on in this sense and it really wasn’t very interesting. I didn’t care for the characters too much either.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has easily earned a place in my list of all-time best romances and there's not so much as even a kiss. What a careful, delicate, understated, perfect book.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was smitten when I read Natasha Pulley’s first book, ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’ a year or two ago, and so when I saw that a second book was being sent out into the world I knew that I had to rush out and buy a copy.

I’m so glad that I did. It was a lovely mixture of the familiar from the first book and the completely different and utterly right for this book; and it was set in the same slightly fanciful but utterly natural past that I wished could have been but that I know probably wasn’t.

At this point I should explain that this isn’t a sequel or part of a series, that there is a character who appears in both books, but that this is a different story set at a different time in that same world.

9781408878460

Merrick Tremayne is a horticultural expert and battered veteran of the East India Company’s opium trade. He’s retired to his family’s diapidated Cornish home after sustaining a serious leg injury, and, much as he loves the place, he is desperately sorry that his days of adventure are probably behind him.

They’re not of course, but he doesn’t know that.

He spends his days in the gardens and the greenhouses; and he is happy there but he is concerned that the estate continues to decay and that his brother, Charles, is either unwilling or unable to do anything about it, He’s also concerned that there seem to be explosions in the trees, and that the heavy statue that his father brought back from his travels seems to change position when he isn’t looking.

Charles doesn’t believe a word of it, and is inclined to believe that he is afflicted with the mental illness that sent their mother in an asylum. He tells Merrick that carrying on as they are isn’t an option: he can take on a small country parsonage or he can follow in his mother’s footsteps.

Fortunately help is at hand.

Merrick’s old friend, Clement Markham — a fellow adventurer and a peer of the realm — arrived with a wonderful proposition. Quinine supplies in India are running low and the government urgently needs a man who can travel to Peru, take some cuttings from the country’s quinine-rich cinchona trees, and make sure that they get to the sub-continent safely.

He says that Tremayne is their man.

He protested that his leg wasn’t up to the trip; he suspected – correctly – that there was more to the trip than he was being told; he knew that others had tried do the same thing and lost their lives in the process; but he was intrigued and he remembered that his father had told him stories about his own travels to that part of the world, and hinted that there were more stories that he couldn’t tell.

He joined the expedition.

It took him Merrick and Clem into the uncharted depths of Peru, to the town of Bedlam, a place that was both real and fantastical. There were lamps made of glowing pollen, there were exploding trees, there were rock formations of pure glass, and there was a border made of salt and bone that is was fatal to cross.

The two men reacted quite differently to these things, to other remarkable things they encountered and to the people they met. It became clear that they had different destinies …

I was drawn into this story from the very beginning – I loved the way that the fictional Tremaynes were insinuated into the family history of the real Tremayne family that used to live at Heligan – but even if I hadn’t known that very real place, where the lost gardens are open to visitors, I still would have been captivated.

I loved the way that Natasha Pulley told her story, and the way she held me at Merrick’s side as he made his extraordinary journey. Quite often I found that it wasn’t difficult to work out what was going on a little before he did, but I didn’t mind that at all because it was lovely watching all of his responses as he learned more and more.

The world he travelled through was so well realised, and the Peruvian jungle and the town of Bedlam felt wonderfully real and alive. The imaginative elements worked well because they came out of the natural world and old traditions, and they spoke of what makes up human. I particularly liked that way that those things sat against practical concerns, particularly the importance of a good cup of coffee.

The plot is so well constructed; and I loved that so much of the early part of the story in Cornwall was related to what happened to Merrick – and what had happened to his father – in Peru. I worked out a lot of things but I definitely didn’t work out everything, and I loved the final resolution, back in Cornwall again.

You could read this book that asks questions about life and faith; or you simply enjoy a lovely journey through a world that is both real and fantastical.

I was too caught up in the wonder of what I was reading to ponder the serious questions, but I saw that they were there and they gave the story weight without ever weighing it down.

I was sorry to leave the world of this book, but I know that I will go back one day to revisit this story and – I hope – to read new ones.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘This expedition isn’t really about the trees at all, is it? It’s about getting a decent map, for if – when – the army has to go?’

It’s 1859, and former East India Company employee Merrick Tremayne is trapped in his family’s decaying estate in Cornwall. Tremayne is disabled, having almost lost his leg in an accident. The British India Office is desperately trying to seek a source of quinine, which is required to treat malaria. Tremayne is approached to be part of an expedition to deepest Peru and, while he knows it’s a terrible idea, he agrees. After all, what can he do in Cornwall? Peculiar things are happening around him and his brother is convinced that Tremayne is mad.

Thus begins a slow-paced epic journey. Others have undertaken this journey before and few have survived it. And they were able-bodied men, whereas Tremayne can barely walk. Tremayne and his companion, his former naval colleague, Clements Markham. They are being sent to:

‘… steal a plant whose exact location nobody knows, in territory now defended by quinine barons under the protection of the government, and inhabited by tribal Indians who also hate foreigners and have killed everyone who’s got close in the last ten years.’

They arrive, Tremayne and Markham, with the help of the mysterious Raphael at the tiny Peruvian town of Bedlam at the edge of the Amazon. A salt line separates the town from the forest, and the line is closely watched. Those who cross it are likely to lose their lives. The cinchona trees are beyond the salt line and while Tremayne and Markham hope to find a way to the cinchona trees to take cuttings, they wait in Bedlam and learn more about the place and its people.

To write more detail of the story may spoil it for a first-time reader. Everything in this finely crafted world makes its own perfect sense. There’s magic in this place, and mystery. There is also the brief appearance of one character from ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’.

‘Forward was the past, behind was the future.’

I really enjoyed this novel, and am likely to reread it. Ms Pulley makes the fantastical seem plausible, the magical appear possible. Merrick Tremayne may be an unlikely hero, but he in his own words:

‘I was the stronger of us by far but I’d forgotten, because I was too used to feeling broken.’

Jennifer Cameron-Smith