In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England -- until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.
Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France.
But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.
Susanna Clarke's brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history.
I FINALLY finished my reread of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I started last year with the 20th anniversary readalong. I mostly kept up with the reading schedule (albeit a week or so behind) until I didn't, pausing for over a month until I finally finished it halfway through January.
**mild spoilers throughout**
I would say the main plot is
"autistic magician and ADHD magician have a friend
breakup" if it weren't so contrary to the feel of the book, but that is
basically what happens. Mr. Norrell is so obviously autistic in the way he is written: his special interests are books and magic, and he is very rigid with his rules; he has no social skills and doesn't follow social customs, and he gets overwhelmed at parties. I would argue that Mr. Strange has ADHD because he flits from career to career until he lands on being a magician, which quickly becomes his main focus in life over even his wife; he hyperfocuses on his magical studies and makes impulsive decisions on big things like moving mountains and stepping through mirrors to unknown lands without a game plan.
There are many characters in this book besides
the eponymous ones; the second tier consists of menservants
and ladies, and they are quite well-rounded characters, even if they
are trapped by their social statuses (and for most of them, by the fairy
villain). The sole character of color is Stephen Black, whose mother
was enslaved; he goes through so much stuff that even his happy ending is rather sad, to me. The women are controlled and let down by the men in their lives, and their agencies, lives, and voices are taken away. There are lots of duos in this book: the two magicians, the two kings, the two nameless slaves, the two women, the two menservants, the two big eras of English magic, doing magic versus reading about it...
SUCH a good book and so excellently written. The Regency England setting makes it familiar (apart from the magic, everything seems to be as it was in our universe; the Napoleonic wars are one setting), but the magical history stuff is so different and interesting. The fairytales mentioned in the footnotes feel familiar too, especially if you grew up reading Western fairytales a lot like I did. The atmosphere of the magic, how big and wild and ancient it is, is just wonderful; it puts me in mind of what C.S. Lewis called Northerness (and affected me much the same).
If you've already read this book, this article I found on Pinterest compares JS&MN plot points and themes to Bible characters and stories (heavy spoilers!). It's utterly fascinating, and I can't believe I didn't realize some of those connections myself: the word(s) made flesh! The longing for the departed/absent king! I think C.S. Lewis would have liked this book.
You can read my first review of JS&MN here; interestingly enough, I first read it on its 10th anniversary year.
See my Pinterest moodboard for JS&MN here.
★★★★
Trigger warnings: murder, gore, dead bodies, war, slavery (past, discussed), racism, death, kidnapping (by fairies), magical stalking, period-typical sexism & classism, supernatural horror. Ask me for specifics
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