Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

The 20th Anniversary Edition of the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, where two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world, now with a new introduction from V.E. Schwab.

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.

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865 pages

Average rating: 7.92

24 RATINGS

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2 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

hoyt
Jun 29, 2024
While not a perfect book, this is an amazing book, and is now one of my favorites. The author has presented a completely constructed alternate version of 1800s England and Europe with a bit of magic (including inventing a whole library's worth of cited fictional references for the footnotes), and populated it with interesting, annoying, and deeply-flawed characters. It is very long, but uses all of those pages well to really immerse you in the world. Read this book!
lnthurman
Sep 24, 2023
10/10 stars
This book took me to truly unexpected places – I don't know if I've ever been this surprised, delighted, and ultimately gripped by a story. The way it escalates and changes so that by the end you feel like you're in a different world than the one where you started, and the way that change feels inevitable, is stunning. I cannot believe this was Clarke's first novel! What the hell!

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