Clarke, Susanna- JONATHAN STRANGE & Mr. NORRELL

[LJ Roberts]

JONATHAN STRANGE & Mr. NORRELL (Novel-Europe-1800s) – VG Clarke, Susanna- 1st book
Bloomsbury, 2005- Hardcover/Audiobook read by Simon Prebble

England, 1806, during the Napoleonic war and magicians in England are concerned no one is doing practical magic in England. They find they are wrong when Mr. Gilbert Norrell challenges that if he can display a performance of practical magic, all theoretical magicians will agree to give up magic forever. But another magician emerges. Jonathan Strange first becomes a student, then a rival of Gilbert Norrell.

While not truly a mystery, I know a lot of mystery fans have read it. I listened to the audio version of this book, which I highly recommend doing. The reader, Simon Prebble, was superb. The story is fascinating although I’m not much of a war history fan, so I could have done without the middle section. But it did serve to define Strange and further differentiate him from Norrell. Overall, I found the book fascinating; sometimes funny, and sometimes sad. I do know I’m very glad to have “read” it.