The Chemistry of Tears Signed first edition. by Carey, Peter - 2012

London: Faber & Faber, 2012. First edition. Hardback. As new/Fine. Signed by the author. Faber & Faber, London, 2012. First edition, signed by the author. Book condition: fine and unread. Dust jacket: near fine. Unclipped and with only the faintest signs of edge wear. An automoton, a man and a woman who can never meet, a secret love story, and the fate of the warming world are all brought to incandescent life in this hauntingly moving novel from a truly great writer. London 2010, Catherine Gehrig, conservator at the Swinburne museum, learns of the death of her colleague and lover of thirteen years. As the mistress of a married man, she must grieve in private. This leads to a special project at the museum - to piece together the mechanics and the story of an extraordinary and eerie automoton. The creature is a clockwork puzzle, commissioned in nineteenth century Germany by and Englishman as a 'magical amusement' for his consumptive son. Linked by the automoton, Catherine and Henry's stories intertwine across time to explore the mysteries of life and death, the miracle and catastrophe of human invention and the body's astonishing chemistry of love and feeling.