The Clockmaker's Wife- Book Review

The Clockmaker’s Wife by Daisy Wood

Publication Date: 27th July 2021
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, General, WW II Fiction 

3 Stars 

**This review contains spoilers**

1940, London: Britain is under attack by the Germans with bombs dropping at random. Nell Spelman has no choice but to escape the city to keep her and her daughter alive. She misses her husband Arthur, a clockmaker who keeps the Big Ben chiming on time. 

A sudden call from Arthur, followed by his disappearance, causes Nell to reach London and find out what went wrong. The search leads Nell into darker places, and as the mystery unfolds, Nell has to risk her life to save the day. 

2021, New York: Ellie has been dissatisfied with her life for a long time. When she meets her mother Alice in a nursing home one day, Ellie finally decides to know more about her past. Using her grandmother’s beautiful watch, she goes all the way to London to dig out the truth. 

But will Ellie find what she wants? How does the truth change her life? 

With such an attractive cover and premise, I had high hopes for this book. Dual timelines are interesting to read. The book started strong, and though I didn’t like Nell as much, I was interested to know how the story progressed. 

Then came Ellie and her mother, Alice, a teeny baby when things got worse in 1940. Alice grew up, found Jeff, got married, and left for the US. Ellie is her only child, a 38-year-old, single woman and an owner of a kitchenware store in NY. 

Both Ellie and Nell have the same name, Eleanor. The nicknames were a good touch. Ellie wants to find the truth about her mother’s past and wants to connect with her step-aunt, Gillian. She books her flight and flies to London right before the New Year of 2022. I was told the flights between countries are expensive during this time and had to be booked in advance. For someone with limited resources (mentioned quite a few times), this seemed a little odd. 

And soon enough, Dan, Ellie’s best friend’s brother and childhood crush, also hops on a flight on impulse to help her in London. 

Anyway, back to Ellie’s search, which is the crux of the story. Not once did it look like Ellie really wanted to know about her grandmother or even her mother’s childhood. It’s her friend, Beth, who searches Alice’s house for the clue. It’s Beth who finds it after Ellie gives up. 

Then this lady jumps to conclusions and declares that her grandmother is a fascist because she found a pamphlet and a party symbol in the old bag. She goes to London with almost no research. It’s Dan who calls her to share the news of Nell’s death anniversary. 

At the slightest hint, Ellie is ready to give up and drop everything because she known her grandmother is a fascist. Really? Surprisingly, someone unrelated to her tells her to look beyond what she sees and keep an open mind. 

Ellie finds a few transcripts and comes to the same conclusion; again. It’s not until Dan arrives that she starts to put any effort to find out more. Even then, Dan is the one doing most of the work. Imagine going to an old woman’s house knowing she might have information about the grandmother but not even being interested to wait after knocking on the door! A 90+ old lady isn’t going to run to the door, is she? 

The author did try to give Ellie a few redeeming attributes by making her take care of her step-aunt. Somehow, throughout the book, Ellie seemed immature, self-absorbed, and judgmental. Not the kind of heroine one would like to read for long. 

Nell wasn’t exactly a strong character either. Her intro didn’t do her much justice and made Arthur seem more capable and efficient. As the story progressed, the roles reversed. We get very little about Arthur. Nell’s character has better development compared to Arthur (and Ellie). Some of the scenes seemed farfetched, but I was willing to overlook them. At least, there was some action and tension in the 'historical' track. 

The love track doesn’t do much either. We don’t know enough about any character to root for them. I still liked Alice and Gillian for their grit, even if they sounded rude most of the time. They had some bite, after all. 

The book has an epilogue of sorts and ends on a happy note. That’s one plus because I like happy endings. The narration picks up speed after the first 25%, so that’s another plus. Some of the descriptions seemed a bit extra (this is coming from someone who loves imagery and descriptive prose). 

Overall, The Clockmaker’s Wife is a decent story spanning different genres and timelines. The premise needed a better execution and an even better character development.  

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Avon Publishers and am voluntarily leaving a review. 

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