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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 32 hrs and 29 mins
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Summary
But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr. Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.
All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative, the very opposite of Mr. Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr. Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr. Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.
Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that 32 hours leave readers longing for more.
Critic reviews
- Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 2005
- World Fantasy Award Winner, 2005
- Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2005
"A smashing success....An exceptionally compelling, brilliantly creative, and historically fine-tuned piece of work." (Booklist)
"Extraordinary....Immersion in the mesmerizing story reveals its intimacy, humor, and insight, and will enchant readers of fantasy and literary fiction alike." (Publishers Weekly)
"Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of the genre that rivals Tolkien." (Time)
"Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British writers - not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald - as well as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip Pullman." (The New York Times Book Review)
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What listeners say about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lucy R
- 12-07-23
A captivating story well worth the long duration
This was a long read but very engaging and well performed. Unique novel different to most on the shelves.
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- Dr. Swijghuisen Reigersberg
- 26-02-22
Magical Story upon History of English Magic
The narration is very faithful to the book and well done by the reader who has to portray a number of characters with different accents and personalities.
Because the book deliberately makes use of academic-style footnotes, the narration includes these too. I quite like that, but others may find it distracts them from the narrative.
The story weaves smidgens of fairy lore, art and religion in with mysticism, and the history of England and other parts of the UK and Europe. It's a great read and listen!
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- Rachel Affleck
- 02-02-22
Magical Mystery!
Wonderfully engaging, magical mystery story. Loved the characters, given depth by excellent narrator. Highly recommended.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-06-23
Amazing !!!
I’ve become so completely invested in this story and feel sad it’s over 💔 Loved the characters and how different they all were and the world building was heaven. The narrator is also the same person as Rainy Day Antiques on headspace so it was a dream to listen to 🩶
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- Abigail Hook
- 07-04-23
Superb performance, intriguing tale
So refreshing to hear a story narrated with such excellence. The novel itself is refreshingly original.
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- J. Marden
- 02-12-22
An enthralling story told with great style
I have read this book a number of times, but to hear it read aloud reminds me of just how complete and detailed are characters and story told. Susanna Clarke is to be praised for this and the Audible audiobook does it proud.
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- Anonymous User
- 27-03-23
Impressive writing style
I’m not easily impressed by writing style, but Susanna Clarke has done a tremendous job. I loved the performance Simon Pebble brings to the tale as well, and look forward to more audiobooks from both.
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- Anonymous User
- 24-04-23
Great performance, beautiful prose, slow story
The world-building and writing style are fantastic, as is the narration. The story is incredibly slow to get going and really takes most of the book for anything to particularly happen; not necessarily a criticism but it has to be what you are after.
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- rt
- 31-10-22
Couldn’t get into it
Started listening to this 10 times and never got more than 10 mins in before giving up, it just would not hold my attention. Disappointing that audible no longer lets you return/exchange books for credit.
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