Susanna Clarke

Author profile

born

November 01, 1959 in Nottingham, England, The United Kingdom

gender

female

website

http://www.jonathanstrange.com/

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Alternate History

influences

Jane Austen, Neil Gaiman

About this author

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Susanna Clarke was born in Nottingham in 1959. A nomadic childhood was spent in towns in Northern England and Scotland. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and has worked in various areas of non-fiction publishing, including Gordon Fraser and Quarto. In 1990, she left London and went to Turin to teach English to stressed-out executives of the Fiat motor company. The following year she taught English in Bilbao.

She returned to England in 1992 and spent the rest of that year in County Durham, in a house that looked out over the North Sea. There she began working on her first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

From 1993 to 2003, Susanna Clarke was an editor at Simon and Schuster's Cambridge office, whe...more

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Books by Susanna Clarke

Average rating: 3.77 · 49,367 ratings · 5,735 reviews · 21 distinct works

	Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell 3.74 avg rating — 41,329 ratings — published 2004 — 64 editions	My rating:
	The Ladies of Grace Adieu: And Other Stories by Susanna Clarke, Charles Vess (Illustrator) 3.79 avg rating — 4,181 ratings — published 2006 — 26 editions	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Femmy Syahrani (Goodreads Author) (Translator), Diniarty Pandia (Editor) 3.79 avg rating — 418 ratings — published 2004 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Femmy Syahrani (Goodreads Author) (Translator), Diniarty Pandia (Editor) 3.62 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Femmy Syahrani (Goodreads Author) (Translator), Diniarty Pandia (Editor) 4.00 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell 4.69 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2004	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 27-C FD 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2006	My rating:
	Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 36-C FD 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2006	My rating:
	The Sandman: Book of Dreams by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Edward E. Kramer (Editor), Frank D. McConnell (Preface) 4.09 avg rating — 2,262 ratings — published 1996 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Black Heart, Ivory Bones by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Brian M. Stableford (Contributor) 4.02 avg rating — 485 ratings — published 2000 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Black Swan, White Raven by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Anne Bishop (Contributor) 3.92 avg rating — 317 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Happily Ever After by John Klima (Editor), Holly Black (Goodreads Author), Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) 3.78 avg rating — 129 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Elizabeth Engstrom (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Kelly Link 3.92 avg rating — 122 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	My rating:
	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Tenth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Angela Carter (Contributor) 3.90 avg rating — 107 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Sara Douglass (Contributor) 3.84 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 1999 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Way of the Wizard by John Joseph Adams (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), George R.R. Martin 3.93 avg rating — 92 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifteenth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Steve Rasnic Tem 3.80 avg rating — 93 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Secret History of Fantasy by Peter S. Beagle (Editor and Contributor), Stephen King (Contributor), Octavia E. Butler (Contributor) 3.78 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Susanna Clarke

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never would.”
― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

tags: gentleman , honor , killing , magic

134 people liked it

“She wore a gown the color of storms, shadows, and rain and a necklace of broken promises and regrets.”
― Susanna Clarke

76 people liked it

“To be more precise it was the color of heartache.”
― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

38 people liked it

See all Susanna Clarke's quotes »

Polls

Ok, Here's the top 6 (there was a tie for 5th)...Which one would you like to see as our next Contemporary Chunkster??

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

19 votes 24.1%

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

19 votes 24.1%

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

14 votes 17.7%

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

10 votes 12.7%

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

9 votes 11.4%

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

8 votes 10.1%

79 total votes

8 comments

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