This is a lovely compendium of fairy tales for adults.
My dance instructor, Tom, loaned it to me. We talk about and exchange books a lot. He'd in the middle of a favorite of mine, Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen, even as we speak.
He recommended Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and brought me this later book to try.
I was charmed from page one. Maybe literally, for the pages are full of powerful magic.
There are eight stories in the book, each about Sidhe, or fairies, and the interaction of the realm of Faerie with that of humans.
The stories are beautifully written in a Victorian voice, with the occasionally quirky spellings and capitalizations seen in literature of that period. Inhabitants of Faerie are difficult to tell from humans, but they live for hundreds or thousands of years, and are uncommonly strong, and either more beautiful or uglier than humans. They tend to be pretty self-centered, as well.
It was easy to get lost in the world: mystical England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Castles and steeds, servants and clergy, servile women and pompous men, and vice versa.
It's great fun. I'm trusting Tom's judgment that I'll like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which he says is even better. It's on its way from Amazon. I can't wait.
[Image of Ms. Clarke via Galley Cat]
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