MixedThe GuardianSusanna Clarke concocts a wickedly credible parallel history of Britain in which magicians were as active and prominent as anyone else we learned about at school ...the defining features of Clarke's style simultaneously: the archly Austenesque tone, the somewhat overdone quaintness ('upon the Tuesday'), the winningly matter-of-fact use of the supernatural, and drollness to spare ...a sophisticated writer, crafting elegant metaphors...overall this large, loquacious book has nothing much to say, the plot creaks frightfully in many places and the pace dawdles ... There are many less crucial but annoying flaws and redundancies which sharper editing could have remedied ... Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is likely, in the months ahead, to be enveloped in a swirling haze of acclaim. Only when this initial enchantment wears off may Clarke's admirably inventive, frequently delightful novel open up to reveal its desolate spirit and its fear of the very forces it purports to celebrate.
