Susanna Clarke’s ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ was a well-deserved hit in 2004. Combining a Regency setting with prim wit and a large helping of magic, it was quite unlike anything else on the market. A notable feature was its copious and colourful footnotes, whose rich detail padded out and made plausible her exquisitely intricate fictional world. In this new collection of short stories, Clarke both revisits some of the most memorable characters and creates a handful of new ones who lurk in hitherto unexplored corners of Regency England and the realm of Faerie.
A favourite member of the original cast, the Duke of Wellington, makes another appearance this time round in the self-explanatory ‘The Duke of Wellington Misplaces his Horse’. When his beloved Copenhagen wanders into Faerie, the Duke does not hesitate to follow him. Clark’s brilliant imagination has the hamfisted war hero embroidering an enchanted tapestry detailing the fate of his own life in order to rescue the poor beast. A more skilled wielder of the needle, and a new addition to Clarke’s firmament, is one Mary, Queen of Scots, whose attempts to bring down her enemy Elizabeth with embroidery are nevertheless thwarted by the serene Countess of Shrewsbury.
Jonathan Strange, the ‘modern magician’ of the first book, reappears in the title story. Visiting the village of Grace Adieu, Gloucestershire, he stumbles upon three ladies who have a unique if unseemly way of dealing with one of their number’s dull husband. His earlier advice to one of them doesn’t seem to have been heeded: ‘Magic, madam, is like wine and, if you are not used to it, it will make you drunk.’ We also see more of the ancient John Uskglass, the Raven King often name-checked in Clarke’s debut. In this tale, said to be a retelling of a ‘popular Northern English folktale’, Clarke is at her Grimm-like best.
Charles Vess illustrates the stories and is also responsible for the distinctive cover of pink climbing flowers on a charcoal-grey background. Inside, his renderings of faerie libraries crammed with gossiping princesses and forest lairs perfectly complement Clarke’s unique visions.
