...from a BookLover

Wednesday 22 August 2012

A teaser on the subject of fairies

Today's teaser is from the story "Tom Brightwind" in the book "The Ladies of Grace Adieu" by Susanna Clarke:
"By two o'clock Tom and David had reached Nottinghamshire, a county which is famous for the greenwood which once was spread over it. Of course at this late date the forest was no longer a hundredth part of what it had once been, but there were still a number of very ancient trees and Tom was determined to pay his respects to those he considered his particular friends and to shew his disdain of those who had not behaved well towards him." 

I find Susanna Clarke's writing remarkable. Her language is flawless (I absolutely love the old school words and sentences), the characters charming (and quite mischievous) and you really sense the ancient English countryside surrounding you. She creates a magical, yet so familiar, world, as she mixes her fictional characters with famous historical ones and uses known landmarks mingled with Faerie references. She even includes footnotes and stories within stories! It almost feels like reading a historical novel, even though the stories are fairytales.

If you have not yet read anything by this author, I urge you to pick up this book or the great "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" as soon as possible! Enjoy!


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