The Palace of Illusions

By Rowenna Miller

Book Overview

The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real in this enchanting and atmospheric fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

In the run up to the 1900s World's Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers' moving pictures and Loie Fuller's serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather's mechanical creations, and she'd rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world's fair.

When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather's toys was real.

As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There's no ignoring the danger she's in, but Clara doesn't know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316571946
• ISBN13: 9780316571944
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Redhook
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Simply magical

This was a fun whimsical, with a bit of danger story of what Clara might have done when she grew up, after spending all that time with her godfather Elias Thrushman (a man with quite a few secrets) as an apprentice before heading off to Paris to help with the construction of the 1900 World's Fair. The World Fairs always had so much wonder and magic but it is added to even more with this story in which Clara learns all about the anderwelt, accessible only through special keys. It is a fun intertwining between the two realms where the impossibly magical is possible. I loved all the creations found there and was quite impressed with Clara and her own inventions though you also get a possible love interest, new friends, and of course old enemies and a threat to creativity and the World's Fair even, just to keep it interesting. It is a fun journey and I really wish that I too could view the anderwelt and all its wonders! So it is kind of a retelling of the Nutcracker but felt nicely fresh with it being adult Clara journeying into the strange new realm via the key sent by her godfather. I also really enjoyed the little stories from the notebook he sends her which also help connect threads in the story. Also, the cover is quite magical. I am glad I got to read this!