The Kingdoms: Natasha Pulley

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I have no idea why the protagonist Joe, and his love interest Kite "fell in love". From Kite's perspective I get it: we are bashed over the head with how charming and handsome Joe is meant to be (though it hardly shows up in his actual actions, and really only when the plot demands he be charming to get something the plot needs for him). From Joe's perspective though, it seemed... proximity based affection? Otherwise, their love story got lost in the fugue that shrouds the rest of the novel. At some point it becomes a thing between them to (barf) give tattoos as expressions of affection. For an alternate history book set in the 1700s/1800s, they definitely don't act or speak like it. You'll find anachronisms peppered through their dialogue jarringly, in ways that reminded me uncomfortably of fanfiction dialogue tropes. Here are some of standard examples: I’ve read The Kingdoms six months ago, and I actually haven’t stopped thinking about it since. And yet, I still have no idea what to say about it. It’s one of those books that shattered my heart into pieces, but I’m staring at this mostly empty file & can’t string together two sentences to explain how.

I haven’t even mentioned what the story is actually about yet (which I think speaks to how much my enjoyment of it was down to emotional connection, though that’s not to say the plot isn’t also great). It starts in 1898, as a man named Joe steps off a train and realises he has lost all his memories. He finds himself in a world that is unfamiliar – to him, naturally, but also to us, as this is an alternate history in which the UK is under French rule. The London skyline is dominated by massive steelworks, households still keep slaves, and Edinburgh is occupied by a terrorist group known as the Saints. Original, joyous and horrifying, The Kingdoms is an awe-inspiring feat of imagination and passion which had me in tears by the end' - Catriona Ward The context here is the love interest, Kite, has bodily thrown a literal 14 year old boy off the boat for attempting to divulge a secret. The characters react to Kite killing him -- and also pretty much every other kill by Kite or otherwise -- the same way they might react to a puppy tearing up the furniture. This is NOT meant to be comedic, this book takes itself VERY, VERY seriously).Macneal, Elizabeth; Hurley, Andrew; etal. (et al) (2023). The Winter Spirits: Twelve Ghostly Tales for Festive Nights. Little, Brown UK.

The second book of this series is called ‘The Lost Future of Pepperharrow’. It was also released by the Bloomsbury publication in 2020. This novel takes place in 1888, five years after the events in the first novel unfolded. At the start, it is mentioned that the unassuming translator, Thaniel Steepleton, and the watchmaker having the ability to remember the future, Keita Mori, are taking a journey to Japan. Steepleton has received a posting to Tokyo-based British legation, while Keita has some business of his own in Yokohoma. As Thaniel Steepleton arrives at the legation, he is informed that several staff members have been witnessing ghosts. So, he sets himself on the task of finding out what is really happening there. But, while he stays with Keita Mori, Thaniel himself begins to see ghostly happenings. Keita Mori appears to be frightened upon learning about the ghostly happenings, but he does not share the reason behind it. But he also has flashes of a life he cannot remember and of a world that never existed – a world where English is spoken in England, and not French. But, oh, oh, this book was written for me. Elegiac, liminal, fragile, aching. This book hurts but in such a good way. A spooling, non-linear narrative, that should be tangled and unparseable, but is instead clever and slowly unwinding until you understand the heart. Characters who are brittle and fragile as glass, complex and unthinkingly brave. Time travel with consequences, messy and completely probable alternate history, a slow-burn of a romance that is absolutely devastating and somehow perfect. After Joe arrives at Eilean Mor the truth about what is happening is gradually revealed to the reader and Joe, although some of the people we encounter seem to know more than they are willing to say.

Reviews

I had already put some pieces together, but when I got to the last two parts of the story, my heart started to melt and beat faster and faster at the same time. What a glorious ending! I have to restrain myself from reading another of Natasha's books right away, and I can't wait for her new book (sci-fi, the blurb reads like Winter’s Orbit) to come out in March 2024! The postcard has been held at the sorting office for ninety-one years, waiting to be delivered to Joe Tournier. On the front is a lighthouse – Eilean Mor, in the Outer Hebrides. What I'm trying to say is that this book was written in a way that made me think Natasha Pulley had been through this experience herself: she'd come from a timeline where books existed, which was promptly wiped for one where they didn't, and using the scraps of information she had left she attempted to write a "book", without actually knowing what one was. There is no other explanation for why this book is so strangely, quasi-incompetently constructed. I would NOT recommend this book to anyone who was interested in reading a sci-fi, nor to anyone interested in reading alternate history, because it fails on both fronts.

For fans of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and David Mitchell, a genre bending, time twisting alternative history that asks whether it's worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you've ever loved. Natasha Pulley (born 4 December 1988) is a British author. She is best known for her debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which won a Betty Trask Award. To begin with, I have to admit that the beginning might be a little bit dense. You have to get used to situating yourself well in what time (period/date) each character is. You’re my family. You were family before any of them. I’ve missed you even when I didn’t remember you.

Napoleon conquered England in this time-travel/alt-history fantasy set at the turns of the 19th and 20th centuries. A history-based time travel adventure/romance, taking place in Great Britain around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.