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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

By: Susanna Clarke
Narrated by: Neil Gaiman, Richard Armitage, V.E. Schwab
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, read by Richard Armitage with Neil Gaiman and an introduction by V E Schwab.

The 20th anniversary edition of the fantasy classic.

‘The book I wish I'd written’ R F Kuang
‘Susanna Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous’ Katherine Rundell

1806. England is beleaguered by the long war, and centuries have passed since magicians faded from view. But one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell. Proceeding to London, he raises a woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French.

Yet the cautious Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician. Young, handsome and daring, Jonathan Strange is his very antithesis. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men – which overwhelms that between England and France. And soon their own secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine…

'Like Hilary Mantel, Clarke has made the very notion of genre seem quaint' Guardian

©2024 Susanna Clarke (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Fantasy Genre Fiction Historical Magical Realism Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Victorian England Magic Users

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Critic reviews

'Clarke creates a world beyond our wildest imagination that also tells us something profound about what it is to be human' (BERNARDINE EVARISTO)

'What a world Susanna Clarke conjures into being' (DAVID MITCHELL)

'A miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling' (MADELINE MILLER)

'Purely joyful reading' (NAOMI ALDERMAN)

'Admirably inventive, frequently delightful' (MICHEL FABER)
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell” is a cleverly woven tapestry of magic, manners, and mystery. The story unfolds with elegance and wit, masterfully narrated and rich in footnoted curiosities. A spellbinding journey through an alternate England where magic is real—and awfully well-behaved… until it isn’t.

Enchanting story!!

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Pure English Magic! Superb writing by Susanna Clarke, and masterful reading by Richard Armitage! The combination is spellbinding. This is storytelling at its finest! Eternally grateful for this gem!!

Pure English Magic!

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To say that Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a commitment would be an understatement — it’s an 850-page odyssey that doubles as both literary workout and transportive escape. For a month I lugged this tome around like a kettlebell, and somehow, despite the weight (literal and figurative), I find myself in awe.

Susanna Clarke’s writing is, simply put, extraordinary. Nobody writes quite like her — her prose is meticulous, sly, and quietly dazzling. She doesn’t just create a world; she conjures it with such precision and strangeness that it feels both magical and deeply real. There’s a unique pleasure in the way she dances with frustration and dissatisfaction — drawing things out, withholding resolution, making you yearn — and yet, it’s satisfying in a way that’s hard to articulate. You just have to read it to understand.

The real marvel of this book, for me, lies in how Clarke weaves magic into history and culture, making enchantment feel like a plausible part of 19th-century England. And the fairies — eerie, beguiling, terrifying — are unlike any I’ve encountered elsewhere in fiction. Her world-building is implacable in the best sense: relentless, intricate, believable.

But no masterpiece is without its cracks. It is long. Long-winded, even. There are sections that could have been tightened, trimmed, or reimagined without losing the novel’s soul. And while Clarke’s portrayal of women captures the period’s social constraints with fidelity, it doesn’t always give them the same emotional depth or narrative weight she affords her male protagonists — a missed opportunity in an otherwise richly peopled world.

Still, if you can commit, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a rare and remarkable feat of imagination. It makes you believe — not just in magic, but in the power of language, of atmosphere, of patient, spellbinding storytelling.

Then the world sang to me 4,5

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Written in 19th century style as natural as Austen or O’Brian and concerning matters reminiscent of Alan Garner, Charles de Lint, and Ursula Le Guin. Quite unique.

Very good and very strange

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Great story and beautiful writing that never lost the overall plot.I thought the narrator was awesome. Finished the book in a week, I’ll miss it.

I loved the writing style.

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Excellent narration and storytelling - the genre of magical realism relating a tale about magicians, faeries and England with it's magical histories and old wives tales that somehow weave an illusion of reality. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

creative imagination at it's best

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I came upon this after listening to and really enjoying Piranesi and thought I’d try S Clarke’s earlier book - so I knew nothing much about this before starting.

I have loved it. Has kept me utterly absorbed and embedded in these lives and this world. The voicing is phenomenal, and the way the footnotes are done makes those very absorbable alongside the main plot (which I think may be an accidental advantage of the audiobook format).

Incredibly absorbing story and voices

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The world that Clarke creates is amazing! I feel like I've learnt a whole new history. I was so gripped by the end that I feel strange now it's over. I could've listened to another 36 hours. Armitage reads it beautifully too, doing a whole host of accents and voices. Highly recommended.

Out of this world

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Not my sort of thing I would say but it was a recommendation and I am so pleased I took notice. i was totally absorbed by the beautiful writing and wonderful performance. I will miss it.

Absorbing

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This is one of my favourite books and Richard Armitage’s narration is a delight. Some slight inflections and intonations have made me laugh out loud. So good

Amazing

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