Featured Book: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Publisher: Tor Books
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 1024 pages
Published: August 2006

Synopsis: There used to be magic in England, magic governed by the mysterious Raven King. However, magic has fallen into obscurity until two men of prophecy appear: Mr. Norrell, a paranoid recluse, and his pupil Jonathan Strange, an insouciant young man. Together, and with friends and enemies, they change the landscape of English magic.

Review: What can I say about this whopping monster of a book except brilliant, brilliant, brilliant? I heard that it took Susanna Clarke many years to write JS&MN and I believe it. The story is full of imagination, complex history, and believable backgrounds all wrapped up in language that matches the 1800s setting. You meet Wellington, Byron; you see the Napoleonic Wars. Yet in the same pitch-perfect language Clarke can summon humour, horror, unease, and wonder. I don’t think there is a single emotion she can’t pull out of you. Clarke doesn’t resort to cheap tricks to do it. No explosions or excessive drama. Just genuine low-key writing that delights as much as it astonishes.

I also like the representation of magic, especially how the magic Strange and Norrell used had its roots in the Raven King and in Fairy. Clarke’s Fairy is as Fairy should be: brilliant and unnerving. You should never feel right in your skin when fairies are about.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a long book. For anyone who spends a lot of time in the Hart House Library, it's a great project to tackle, and well worth the efforts.

Strange! Arabella! Norrell! Stephen Black! Vinculus! Childermass! England!

- N.S