There’s something about clocks that I particularly like. Maybe it’s the way all the gears fit together with the cogs like a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe it’s the first watch I owned, a Cinderella watch with a pink band and a porcelain Cinderella figurine that came with it. Maybe because being on time is either my character flaw or virtue (depending on how you think about it).
In any case, I am drawn to stories about clocks. As a child, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. The Wichita Public Library didn’t carry them, so I had to borrow them from my best friend who lived next door. (She also let me read all her Archie comics.)
The very first Nancy Drew book is The Secret of the Old Clock, where Nancy finds an important message hidden inside a clock.
More current books that I have particularly enjoyed are, in no particular order, are:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Not only are clocks important in the story, as Hugo must take care of the clocks when his father dies, but it is also set in a train station. I can also recommend the movie.
The Clockwork Three by Mathhew J. Kirby
There are three main characters in this story, and one of them is an apprentice to a clockmaker.
The House of One Hundred Clocks by A. M. Howell
Helena goes with her father to a house where his job is to make sure the one hundred clocks must never stop.
The Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher
This is the first book in a series, and although there is not a clock per se, there is a mechanical talking crow who helps our heroine, Seren, find a missing boy.
The Counterclockwise Heart by Brian Farrey
If you like German fairy tales, this one will be sure to please. The prince has a clock in his chest instead of a heart, and it is running backwards.
Another thing these books have in common is their European setting. My steampunk story, The Secret of the Moon Dial, concerns a pocket watch, and the Turicum train station, inspired by the main station in Zürich, Switzerland. (Coming Summer 2026).
Leave a comment below if you have other books with clocks that you love.
Turicum Tales 