Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell- Susanna Clarke
I have started reading this after falling in love with Clarke's other novel 'Piranesi'. This was a short, but effective novel that left me thinking about it for months after it. 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' is Clarke's debut novel, first published in 2004 and is in many ways completely different from 'Piranesi'. It is essentially a door stop of a book, spanning over 700 pages of alternative history, magical realism, quirky characters and whimsy that I found is characteristic of Clarke's writing. I have attempted to give this novel a fair chance and not compare it to what I consider a master piece of 'Piranesi', but I must say I did not enjoy it as much. The novel follows two magicians in England during the Napoleonic wars and their various attempts to bring magic back to England. Although set in the historically accurate time period, because of the influence of magic, the history presented is different from what we believe to be tru...