The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

by Susanna Clarke

Overview

"Vivid and amusing...Magically funny."-Ursula K. LeGuin, Los Angeles Times

An enchanting collection of stories, set in the same world, from the author of the award-winning, internationally bestselling Jonathan Strange&Mr. Norrell.

Following the international bestseller Jonathan Strange&Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke returns with an enchanting collection of stories brimming with all the ingredients of good fairy tales: petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time in embroidering terrible fates, endless paths in deep, dark woods, and houses that never appear the same way twice. The heroines and heroes who must grapple with these problems include the Duke of Wellington, a conceited Regency clergyman, an eighteenth-century Jewish doctor, and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as two characters from Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; Strange himself and the Raven King.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories introduces readers to a world where charm is always tempered by eerieness, and picaresque comedy is always darkened by the disturbing shadow of Faerie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596917453
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/06/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	164,965
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Susanna Clarke's debut novel Jonathan Strange&Mr Norrell was first published in more than 34 countries and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award. It won British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award in 2005. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, a collection of short stories, some set in the world of Jonathan Strange&Mr Norrell, was published by Bloomsbury in 2006. Piranesi was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year Award, the RSL Encore Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Susanna Clarke lives in Derbyshire.

Hometown:

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

Date of Birth:

November 16, 1959

Place of Birth:

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Education:

B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 1981

Website:

http://www.jonathanstrange.com

Table of Contents

The Ladies of Grace Adieu On Lickerish Hill Mrs. Mabb The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse Mr. Simonellie or The Fairy Widower Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby Antickes and Frets John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner

Editorial Reviews

In this set of short stories, the author of the dazzling fantasy Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell returns readers to that novel's unique milieu, a vision of 19th-century Britain that combines urbane comedy with the uncanny atmosphere of classic fairy stories. Proper young women who might have stepped from the pages of Mansfield Park practice very un-Austenian magic, a fairy mobilizes a town to help him pursue an object of lust, and a king matches wits with a beggar. At once achingly familiar and completely fresh, Susanna Clarke's stories arrive like postcards from an enchanted kingdom.

Fans of Clarke's bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrellshould be pleased with this book, as the stories collected here are very much cut from the same cloth. The stories (seven previously published and one original tale, "John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner") deal with fairies and the history of English magic, and are told in the same Victorian style that made JS&MNso distinct. Prebble (who also narrated JS&MN) returns and once again triumphantly brings Clarke's richly imagined world to life. Sharing narrative duties this time around is Porter, who is equally skilled at playing prim and high-born ladies as she is using more folksy tones in "On Lickerish Hill." The footnotes that bogged down the audio edition of JS&MNare mostly absent, and the narrators' very different styles work well to give each story its own distinct feel. A lyrical and thoroughly enjoyable collection from a burgeoning master of fantasy literature. Simultaneous release with the Bloomsbury hardcover (Reviews, July 31). (Nov.)

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Materials from British folklore are reworked with beguiling narrative energy and mischievous wit in this first collection from the English author of the wonderful adult fantasy Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004). Two of that book's major characters make vivid reappearances here. In "John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner," the legendary magician the Raven King (aka Uskglass) tramples on a humble woodsman's property while hunting, and is himself humbled when his victim enlists various saints to redress his grievance. In the amusing title story, gentleman sorcerer Jonathan Strange discovers during a country visit that "the magic of wild creatures [notably owls] and the magic of women" are indeed a match for his own. Elsewhere, Mary Queen of Scots, while imprisoned by her rival, England's Elizabeth I, plots revenge through the medium of pictorial embroidery: Still, Elizabeth survives, and Mary loses her head (in "Antickes and Frets"). That tactic achieves better results when a British military hero strays into a remote domicile ruled by similar domestic magic (in "The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse"). Odd things will happen, evidently, when mortals join forces or contend with fairy folk. "Tom Brightwind and How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby" describes how Tom, a vainglorious and dictatorial otherworldly paterfamilias, is gently persuaded by his best human friend to improve the fortunes of the inhabitants of Thoresby, a village hitherto cut off from the world beyond it. Less benign supernatural intervention operates in tales relating an unhappy young wife's risky escape from her boring old husband ("On Lickerish Hill"); a forsaken fiancee's perilous dealings withthe fairy temptress ("Mrs. Mabb") who has stolen her beloved; and, in "Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower," a country cleric's refusal to be intimidated by a "powerful fairy" landowner's disagreeable habit of seducing and exploiting innocent young women. Irresistible storytelling, from a splendidly gifted enchantress.

Kirkus Reviews

Clarke's imagination is prodigious, her pacing is masterly and she knows how to employ dry humor in the service of majesty.” —The New York Times

“Nobody writes about magic the way Clarke does . . . She writes about magic as if she's actually worked it.” —TIME Magazine

“[Clarke is] one of the greatest novelists writing today.” —Vox

From the Publisher

This should have been a terrific production. Clarke's first novel, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, was wonderfully written and deservedly popular. Narrator Simon Prebble, who did such a great job narrating that book, is an AUDIOFILE Golden Voice, as is Davina Porter. So why is this collection of short stories of limited appeal? One reason is that even though the stories are magical, highly literate, and complex, they are also often hard to follow, despite the best narration. Another reason is that while the many admirers of JONATHAN STRANGE will recognize some characters, and other readers will appreciate the folk and fairy tale traditions Clarke draws upon, many will find those references obscure. That said, there <> an audience that will like this production very much. S.K. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile