The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

"Vivid and amusing...Magically funny."-Ursula K. LeGuin, Los Angeles Times An enchanting collection of stories, set in the same world, from the author of the award-winning, internationally bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Following the international bestseller Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke returns with an enchanting collection of stories brimming with all the ingredients of good fairy tales: petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time in embroidering terrible fates, endless paths in deep, dark woods, and houses that never appear the same way twice. The heroines and heroes who must grapple with these problems include the Duke of Wellington, a conceited Regency clergyman, an eighteenth-century Jewish doctor, and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as two characters from Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; Strange himself and the Raven King. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories introduces readers to a world where charm is always tempered by eerieness, and picaresque comedy is always darkened by the disturbing shadow of Faerie.

Honestly kinda conflicted about this book. On one hand, Clarke's writing is unparalleled and I am a huge admirer, semi-academically. On the other, I just frequently got bored through a lot of these stories or felt that they ended anti-climactically.

The best story in this lot is also the very first one listed, the titular “Ladies of Grace Adieu”. There's proper magic, there's a great storytelling trajectory, a small mystery underlying the whole thing, and a satisfying conclusion. That's pretty much more than I can say for most of the other stories. Some of them were really promising throughout (”On Lickerish Hill”, “Mr Simonelli, or the Fairy Widower”, for e.g.) but then just had very unsatisfying and sometimes abrupt endings. Others (”Tom Brightwind”, “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner”, for e.g.) were just so bizarre that I had trouble following along and skimmed through a lot.

Don't get me wrong though. I haven't read any contemporary historical fiction writer that is able to more accurately replicate an early 19th century writing style than Susanna Clarke and there's always a perpetual awe when I'm reading her book. It really feels like I'm reading something actually written by someone living in the early Victorian times, but then with our very modern concepts of magical realism thrown in. Her stories are quite often pretty dark, morbid, and even gory, but with an outer coating of Regency/Victorian aesthetic, so there's almost a Tim Burton thing going on here. I've really never read anything like her writing before or since. I'm, of course, basing most of this from reading her most popular novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. For Ladies of Grace Adieu, I'd recommend only reading it perhaps after JS & MN - though it is shorter, it is not exactly a good primer for Clarke's writing style and might be just too eclectic for people new to her.

Gave up after 4.5 stories. The titular story had promise, but I found the others tedious and boring.

Faux-Victorian writing is a delicate art; most attempts are tedious or even grating. Clarke has the gift: her language is exquisite, her stories quirky, filled with understated surrealism and wonder.

En ‘Las Damas de Grace Adieu', Clarke expande el mundo de Jonathan Strange y el Sr. Norrel con una colección de historias bastante divertidas con su toque dramático y ambiente inglés victoriano. Se leíste o piensas leer JS&MrN recomiendo seguir con esta agrupación de relatos! Hasta Strange y el Rey Cuervo aparecen en ciertas historias!