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The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
by Susanna Clarke

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15161.The_Ladies_of_Grace_Adieu_and_Other_Stories?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1166671092m/15161.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15161.The_Ladies_of_Grace_Adieu_and_Other_Stories?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8842.Susanna_Clarke">Susanna Clarke</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1131688?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars When I first read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell a year or two ago, I wasn't exactly sure what to think. I mean, it's a 700+ page book about dueling magicians with absolutely no cute kiddie Harry Potterish stuff, or any of the usual si-fi/fantasy genre trappings. It's an actual novel written for reasonable adults with the main conflict concerning the opening and closing of Fairy roads. Did I mention that it's undeniably well-written? With The Ladies of Grace Adieu Susanna made me realize the pure size, scope and quality of this thing she's making, and that her writing is spot-on, really. She has a kind of strange pragmatic flair that's uncommon in absurdly serious lit. Short form does for her what How We Are Hungry did for Eggers; namely: amplification. With both of these writers the electricity is always present in their sentences, but they control the emotional surges and ebbs to a degree that it becomes almost a static, a tool blatantly not forced. Like the Kenyans who practice marathons on mountaintops, the heart rate is already up: winning the Tulsa Run is nothing for them. I mean I'm not used to writers who consistently perform at this level but keep it so casual. Certainly others can write as well, but I'm always aware of them as the author, whereas with Clarke you can easily forget her role. Think Aesop's Fables, or Italian Folktales. Actually, the humor is subtle and really Calvino-ish, "The Governess was not much liked in the village: she was too tall, too fond of books, too grave and - a curious thing - never smiled unless there was some thing to smile at." Anyway, this is getting too long. Buy the book.
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/81456?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Adam's review
rating:
bookshelves: shorts-novellas-collections

When I first read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell a year or two ago, I wasn't exactly sure what to think. I mean, it's a 700+ page book about dueling magicians with absolutely no cute kiddie Harry Potterish stuff, or any of the usual si-fi/fantasy genre trappings. It's an actual novel written for reasonable adults with the main conflict concerning the opening and closing of Fairy roads. Did I mention that it's undeniably well-written? With The Ladies of Grace Adieu Susanna made me realize the pure size, scope and quality of this thing she's making, and that her writing is spot-on, really. She has a kind of strange pragmatic flair that's uncommon in absurdly serious lit. Short form does for her what How We Are Hungry did for Eggers; namely: amplification. With both of these writers the electricity is always present in their sentences, but they control the emotional surges and ebbs to a degree that it becomes almost a static, a tool b...more

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