"Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me. The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practic al magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorio us history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose d isplays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to Lond on, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of g hostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opp osite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their ow n obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to caus e more trouble than they can imagine." (adlibris.se)

The first 200 pages I was forcing myself through - and then the story and the characters got hold of me. I think the story is really good - like a fairytale for adults, but with the complexity of good literature (in my opinion and of my taste). I checked out the webpage at www.jonathanstrange.com and read about the author and the book and I'm not surprised to find that it took her ten years to write the book.

I love the language she has written in - it reminds me of the books I've read that are written in the beginning of the 19th century. The settings are wonderful and the characters are complex and interesting. I can't believe it took me less than a week to read it!

On the bookbuffet

Taking this with me on release walk.

The book was released somewhere in the park under the release walk at the Bookcrossing Convention in Oslo.