SUSANNA CLARKE was born in Nottingham, England, in 1959, the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and has worked in various areas of nonfiction publishing. Susanna lives in Cambridge with her partner, the novelist and reviewer Colin Greenland.
SIMON PREBBLE, a veteran British narrator and performer of
considerable experience and talent, has enjoyed a varied career
from soap opera to Shakespeare. One of AudioFile's lauded "Golden
Voices," he has recorded over 250 audiobooks and his performances
have received critical acclaim both in the U.S. and the U.K.
"Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with
the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of
the genre that rivals Tolkien."--"Time"
"Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British
writers--not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also
the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald--as well
as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip
Pullman."--"The New York Times Book Review "
"Many 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 Post" "Narrated with sights and
sounds that make you feel as if you're back in 19th-century
England." - "Good Housekeeping"
“Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with
the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of
the genre that rivals Tolkien.”—"Time"
“Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British
writers—not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also
the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald—as well as
contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip Pullman.”—"The
New York Times Book Review "
“Many 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 Post"
" Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with
the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of
the genre that rivals Tolkien." -- "Time"
" Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British
writers-- not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also
the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald-- as well
as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip Pullman." --
"The New York Times Book Review"
" Many 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 Post"
Adult/High School-This delightful first novel exerts a strong and seductive pull on readers who might otherwise balk at its length. Like Philip Pullman's work, it is dark, deep, and challenging. It compares dead-on with Jane Austen's novels, and YAs who have underappreciated her wit may find it delicious when applied to magicians. Clarke even tosses in a bit of Dickens and Hardy-with great characterization, subplots, and a sense of fate bearing down hard on us. At stake is the future of English magic, which has nearly dwindled to all theory by the early 1800s, after centuries of prominence. When the book opens, only the reclusive and jealous Gilbert Norrell is practicing. Enter Jonathan Strange, a natural who has never studied magic formally. Norrell resents, then adopts Strange as a pupil whose growth he insists on controlling until the two come to the impasse that nearly leads them to destroy one another. Strange champions the 12th century's "Raven King" as the greatest magician in English history and hopes to summon him from Faerie, an alternate world. Norrell is determined to erase both from English memory-to hide the fact that he himself made a bargain with a fairy that has cost three people their lives, though their hearts go on dismally beating. Expertly written and imagined, the book is a feast for fans of fantasy, historical novels, or simply fabulously engrossing reads.-Emily Lloyd, formerly at Rehoboth Beach Public Library, DE Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
"Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with
the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of
the genre that rivals Tolkien."--"Time"
"Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British
writers--not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also
the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald--as well
as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip
Pullman."--"The New York Times Book Review "
"Many 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 Post"
"Narrated with sights and sounds that make you feel as if you're back in 19th-century England." - "Good Housekeeping"
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
