FromNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorOwenKing,who“writeswithwittyverve“(EntertainmentWeekly)comesa“richlyimagined“(TheNewYorkTimes)Dickensianfantasyofillusionandcharmwherecatsarereveredasreligiousfigures,thievesarenoble,scholarsarerevolutionaries,andconjurersarethemostwonderfulcriminalsyoucanimagine.Itbeginsinanunnamedcitynicknamed“theFairest“,itisdistinguishedbymanythingsfromtheriverfairtothemountainsthatsplitthemunicipalityinhalf;itstheatersandmanymuseums;theMorgueShip;and,likeallcities,butmaybeespeciallyso,byitsessentialunmappability.Dora,aformerdomesticservantattheuniversityhasasecretdesire--tounderstandthemysteryofherbrother’sdeath,believingthattheanswerlieswithinTheMuseumofPsykicalResearch,whereheworkedwhenDorawasachild.Withthecityamidstarevolutionaryupheaval,wherecitizenslikeRobertBarnes,herloverandastudentradical,arenowinpositionsofauthority,Doracontrivestogainthecuratorshipofthehalf-forgottenmuseumonlytofinditallbutburnttotheground,withtheneighboringmuseumsoddlyuntouched.Robertoffersheroneofthese,TheNationalMuseumoftheWorker.However,neitherthismuseum,northestreetitishiddenawayon,norDoraherself,arewhattheyatfirstappeartobe.Setagainstthebackdropofanoddlyfamiliarandwondrouscityonthevergeofcollapse,Dora’ssearchforthetruthwillunravelamonstrousconspiracyandbringhertotheedgeofworlds.
