Review Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years. It's funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical, a journey through light and shadow - a delight to read -- NEIL GAIMANWith all of the whimsy, spark and imagination of Harry Potter and the dry, well-observed wit of Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke perfectly conveys all that can be brilliant about British literature and manages to be refreshingly different from either, GUARDIANA highly original and compelling work, SUNDAY TIMESMany books are to be read, some are to be studied, and a few are meant to be lived in for weeks. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is of this last kind, WASHINGTON POSTFull of epic sweep and intimate human drama . An imaginative treat, DAILY TELEGRAPHRavishing ... superb ... Combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of the genre that rivals Tolkien, TIMEClarke's imagination is prodigious, her pacing is masterly and she knows how to employ dry humour in the service of majesty . Clarke's giddiness comes from finding a way at once to enter the company of her literary heroes, to pay them homage and to add to the literature, to slot this big fat book into our own libraries of spells. In this fantasy, the master that magic serves is reverence for writing, NEW YORK TIMESIt is packed with neat, deft touches; peopled with an intriguing and varied supporting cast; linguistically and socially utterly authentic in its evocation of its idiosyncratic version of its chosen era; movingly redolent of the author's affection for both her protagonists; and builds to a resolution that satisfies both logically and poetically, INDEPENDENTA sprawling saga about 19th-century frenemy magicians who revive the art of "practical magic" after years of its being merely an academic pursuit . It's also a book wherein storytelling helps make the meaning: Clarke's pastiche of period styles accentuates her commentary on English identity, and hundreds of footnotes chronicle the history of magic. It's the novel Hogwarts-lit nerds read during their postmodern Pynchon phase, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Book Description OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ... Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical' NEIL GAIMANThe year is 1806. Centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation’s past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine. P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Author Susanna Clarke lives in Cambridge with her partner, the novelist and reviewer Colin Greenland. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was first published in 2004 in more than thirty countries and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Guardian First Book Award. It won British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award in 2005. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, acollection of short stories, some set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was published by Bloomsbury in 2006. See more
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