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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
In an alternative version of early nineteenth-century England, magic survives mainly as an antiquarian subject discussed by gentlemen who cannot perform it. That changes when the private, possessive Gilbert Norrell proves that practical magic still exists. Seeking respectability and political influence, he takes English magic to London and offers his services during the Napoleonic Wars. His rise depends, however, on a secret bargain with a dangerous fairy. Jonathan Strange soon emerges as a second practicing magician. More intuitive, sociable, and adventurous than Norrell, Strange becomes first his pupil and then his rival. Their dispute over how magic should be studied, controlled, and restored draws in the Duke of Wellington, Lord Byron, the legendary Raven King, and people trapped by enchantments the magicians do not fully understand. Susanna Clarke combines historical fantasy, social comedy, Gothic unease, and an invented scholarly record to examine authority, ambition, knowledge,…
