The Chemistry Of Tears

London 2011, Catherine Gehrig, conservator at the Swinburne museum, learns of the unexpected death of her lover of thirteen years. As the mistress of a married man she has to grieve in private. Given a special project away from prying eyes and mad with grief, the usually controlled and rational Catherine discovers a series of handwritten notebooks telling the extraordinary story behind the automata she is restoring. She starts to piece together both the clockwork puzzle and the story of the mechanical creature which was commissioned in 19th century Germany by an English man, Henry Brandling, as a 'magical amusement' for his consumptive son.

Softcover. English. Publisher: Faber & Faber. 2012. 273 pp. Fair. Book No: 15669