It’s not all pixie dust
Some authors are prolific. They can churn out multiple books in a calendar year.
Others spend a decade on a single work. Susanna Clarke certainly belongs in the latter bunch.
Her debut novel, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” was published in 2004, but she began crafting it as early as 1992. Judging by the accolades it received, its place on the bestseller lists, and the BBC television adaptation, it was worth the time she put into it.
The novel opens in 1806 in England. But this is an England where magic exists (or I should say existed.) Centuries ago, magicians such as the Raven King and Catherine of Winchester and Ralph Stokesey performed marvels that were known the world over.
But in the present, there are only theoretical magicians (men who study what was done previously but haven’t the gift to practice magic.)
Enter Mr. Gilbert Norrell. This miserly man has spent years collecting every significant book of magic he can lay his hands on, and he actually has the talent to perform miracles. However, he guards his knowledge assiduously, as he fears that if magic was loosed back on the world it would be abused.
He is finally impelled by a group of these theoretical magicians to perform a bit of magic, and the witnesses are astounded. Norrell begins to receive acclaim and invitation to London society, and he is helpless before the admiration and regard. He is finally persuaded to take a pupil, and we are here introduced to the other half of the book title: Jonathan Strange.
Strange proves worthy and demonstrates great skill, but there is eventually a break between the two magicians, and this becomes the thrust of the novel.
The book is rooted so firmly in 19thcentury England that it doesn’t read like typical fantasy. It is often a comedy of manners reminiscent of Jane Austen, but then it will shift gears and put the reader on the battlefields at Waterloo as the magicians aid England to defeat Napoleon.
Like the best alternative histories, one believes Strange really must have been there assisting the Duke of Wellington for success to have occurred.
But reader, there is magic too. Oh, there is magic that is so flawlessly detailed that it must be authentic. You can tell how well Clarke knows her world by the deft footnotes that dot the pages. In some cases, footnotes take up an entire page! But these annotations add to the richness and are never cumbersome.
There are also evocative hand-drawn illustrations sprinkled among the pages.
Neil Gaiman called it, “the finest work of English fantasy written in the past 70 years.” There is real evil (in the guise of the Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair,) there are faeries, sea battles, magic mirrors, elegant balls, and there is one character with a kingdom on the far side of Hell.
Clark is a plot prestidigitator and it all meshes beautifully and memorably. Get lost in this one for awhile.
You can borrow “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” with your PINES library card.