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Common Knowledge

Legal name: Clarke, Susanna Mary
Birthdate: 1959-11-01
Gender: female
Nationality: UK
Country (for map): England, UK
Birthplace: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
Places of residence: County Durham, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Bilbao, Spain
Turin, Italy
Education: University of Oxford (St Hilda's College)
Occupations: editor
novelist
short-story writer
Relationships: Greenland, Colin (partner)
Awards and honors: British Book Award (Newcomer of the Year, 2005)
Waterstones 25 Authors for the Future (2007)
Short biography: Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is a British author best known for her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternate history. Both Clarke's novel and her short stories are set in a magical England and written in a pastiche of the styles of 19th-century writers such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

Members

Discussions

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in Folio Society Devotees (May 29)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - aulsmith tutoring Morphidae in 75 Books Challenge for 2012 (April 2012)

Reviews

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I didn't finish it... It's just taking way too long to get started. I love the narrator's voice but please give me a reason to keep going in this slow paced, numbing story...

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folkmoss | 787 other reviews | Dec 28, 2024 |

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

A very short story. Almost a poem. The book and illustrations are lovely. The story is a beautiful tale for a dark and cold winter night.

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MrsLee | 11 other reviews | Dec 28, 2024 |

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Got too tedious at times, waiting & waiting for something to happen, & not liking the main character much. It was a cold book, almost like from a horror genre. I usually love anything from this time period, but not this book. I still think her alternative history was ingenious & love how fans have made an online wiki--so convincing that it totally feels real. For these reasons I loved the brilliant DVD series. At times I found myself going to the book to satisfy cravings for more detail.… (more)

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lou_intheberkshires | 787 other reviews | Dec 26, 2024 |

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

The Wood at Midwinter - S.Clarke
Audio performance by the author
4 stars

This was a weird little short story. It's a fairy tale, possibly set in Clarke’s Jonathan Strange universe. Young Merowdis Scott can speak to animals and trees. She knows herself to be a misfit among normal people and confides her troubles to a pig, a fox and a raven. This felt like a good beginning for a story that ended far too soon.

The most interesting thing about the book are the author’s notes about her creative process.

The ½ hour audiobook is read by the author. The little book is nicely bound with elaborate black and white illustrations.… (more)

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msjudy | 11 other reviews | Dec 22, 2024 |

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