The Cloud Machinery

The theatre at St Hyginus, in an obscure corner of Venice, is about to reopen after 7 years of darkness. A young musician named Domenico has been employed to rehearse the company and direct the operas. In the eaves of the theatre Domenico and his lover Rodolfo discover an ageing, half-mad castrato called Angelo Colombani in a room filled with theatrical machinery. It was the failure of his cloud machinery, on a disastrous night seven years before, that led to the closure of the theatre. Hidden in the theatre is the will of Goffredo Negri, a charlatan, conjuror and alchemist, who that night spirited away the daughter of a Neapolitan prince. Two sinister visitors from northern lands, Baroness Hedwiga and Andreas Hofmeister, are searching for the will; Domenico finds it, but it falls into Hedwiga's hands. Colombani reveals the truth about his relationship with the magician, and Domenico embarks on a dangerous adventure: retrieve the will, ensure that Rodolfo receives his rightful dues, and rescue the princess from the limbo into which Negri plunged her all those years ago.
Admirably suited to the alchemical talents of Christopher Whyte, The Cloud Machinery reads like a tale by Hoffmann set to music by Mozart. Its brilliant an elegant surface cannot conceal disturbing pyschological undertones which make this a thoroughly contemporary novel.