Book cover: In fin-de-siecle Copenhagen, part-time prostitute Charlotte and her lumpen sidekick Fru Schleswig, have taken on jobs as cleaning ladies of dubious talent to tide them over the hard winter of 1897. But the home of their neurotic new employer, the widow Krak, soon reveals itself to be riddled with dark secrets – including the existence of a demonic machine rumoured to swallow people alive. Rudely catapulted into twenty-first century London, the hapless duo discover a whole new world of glass, labour-saving devices and hectic, impossible romance…

‘Less science fiction than faiary taile, it is also a love story, complete with many dramatic reversals of fortune and narrated in appealingly breathless, energetic style… Jensen is a consistently inventive writer’ – Sunday Telegraph

‘This sweetly entertaining story is enough on the magical side of realism to allow love, for once, to conquer all’ – Sunday Times

‘Captivating… There are moments of genius… Packed with charm and energy, this is definitely worth taking the, er, time to read’ – Time Out

‘Wickedly funny and fantastical gothic farce… among its pleasures are a pitch-perfect voice packed full of little comic detonations, and a plot as carefully constructed as a delicate wristwatch’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Unashamedly gleeful: a kind of topsy-turvy Jane Eyre with added time travel… Sit back, suspend your disbelief and enjoy’ – Daily Mail

- Attempted to get into this on a number of occasions, but despite enjoying magical realism and loving timey wimee travel stuff I didn’t manage to fully engage with this. Simply just not in the mood for it at the time and as I am once again feeling overwhelmed by need to rationalise book plies, I’m taking the opportunity of the Edinburgh International Book Festival for 'releasing' books today. Off it goes travelling…

Now near mid-night & I’m just back home and recording on the BookCrossing website that this book is now in the hands of another reader so that’s me happy, another book out in the world having adventures – whoop!
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Hello book finder, if you aren't familiar with the BookCrossing world of TRAVELLING books – WELCOME!

Feel free to keep this book it is yours to do with as you wish, read it, or pass it on to keep it travelling. You can leave notes anonymously or if you journal this book as a member, you will hear from the book on its travels. If you do join quoting the name of the Bookcrosser who registered this – on this occasion that’s me – as your referrer would make this BookCrossers day. Thank you and HAPPY READING! Cheers rainbow3.