An impoverished widow and her two children move to a remote village so she can take a job as housekeeper for an eccentric retired toymaker who lives in a mansion with a wife no one ever sees and hundreds of intricate automata. Something is amiss at the boss's mansion and stories abound in the village.

The premise really grabbed me, but this book turned out to be rather tedious and forgettable.

This book is registered at BookCrossing.com to track its journey through this world. You can make a journal entry (anonymously, if you like) to say you found it, then read it and/or pass it on for someone else to enjoy. Thank you!