The chemistry of tears
General fiction
Human-narrated audio
Summary
When Catherine Gehrig, a museum conservator and clock expert, finds out that her very married lover of thirteen years has dropped dead, she has to keep her grief a secret. But with no outlet other than vodka, her sorrow is… close to driving the hyper-rational Catherine mad. The only person who knew of their affair - her boss - tries to distract her by giving her a demanding project: the reconstruction of an elaborate nineteenth-century automaton. In its crate, Catherine finds a series of notebooks written by Henry Brandling, who, in 1854, commissioned the mechanical creature in an attempt to bring joy to his consumptive son. Henry's account brings Catherine unexpected comfort, but it is the automaton itself, in its beautiful, uncanny imitation of life, that links Henry's life to Catherine's, as both are confronted with the miracle and catastrophe of human invention, and the body's astonishing chemistry of love and feeling. 2013.