Susanna Clarke

Presents an anthology of stories set in a mysterious, fantastical version of England populated by petulant princesses, vengeful owls, and endless paths in the dark woods, and features the Duke of Wellington and other colorful characters.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

Pepper

Though I still haven't finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell I had to get this gorgeous book of Suzanne Clarke, with it's wonderful hardcover and illustrations by Charles Vess, who illustrated Neil Gamain's Stardust, and ofcourse features short stories written in the same vein as her first epic novel. 

It took me a while to get into this book because the short story "The Ladies of Grace Adieu" did not engage me much though it featured Jonathan Strange. However if one perseveres (or if you wish you could just skip directly to them) they will discover delights such as "The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse" (set in Neil Gamain's Stardust universe), "Mr Simonelli or The Fair Widower" (the diary style of which suits this engaging tale), "Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby" (I love the easy frienship David and Tom share), "Antickes & Frets" (with an appeaeance by Mary Queen of Scots) and finally the wonderfully vindictive "John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner".

Jeremy Wang

a short and pleasant read! none of the stories were particularly surprising or memorable (perhaps slightly ironic given their subjects), but i was glad to see jonathan strange and the raven king and faerie again. 

many of the characters have that sweetly nonsensical air attached to fairytales (faerietales..?), which contrasted nicely with what i remembered of the main book. i particularly enjoyed tom brightwind and the countess (and maybe even !authentic rumpelstiltskin???) also somehow overly sarcastic productions primed me perfectly for these stories with bits of irish, scottish, and misc. gaelic/welsh lore lmao

Kirsten Simkiss

I have no complaints about this book. This had all the charm and fairy politics that I was looking for, alongside better pacing that Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Of course, this is a collection of short stories, so allow me to address them individually. Overall, however, I give it 4.5 stars, but I shall round up for the purposes of Goodreads.

The Ladies of a Grace Adieu - the title story - actually was pretty fun but not particularly remarkable when stacked up next to some of the later stories. If you're into lady witches supporting other lady witches and standing up for what's right, this is the story for you. Additionally, this story ties into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell directly.

On Lickerish Hill is one of those stories where you appreciate how it mimics a less intelligent perspective or you hate it. I'm personally not one who enjoys when things are intentionally written poorly because it makes me have to translate the odd spellings as I read and takes me out of the story. Others, however, may love it. This is very much a retelling of Rumplestiltskin in a way, though not a direct copy.

Mrs. Mabb was an interesting one, though I found myself consistently wondering why, if this Fox fellow was such a scoundrel, our heroine was interested in him at all.

The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse was a DELIGHT to come across, having read Stardust. I have not often read professional fanfiction and I would love to know how Neil Gaiman reacted to it if he's read it. While a short story, it was still charming. Additionally, as it features a real person in history, this one is technically historical fiction moreso than the others.

Mr Simonelli or the Fairy Widower was probably my favorite in the collection. I loved the sour main character, almost a kindred spirit to me at times, and I loved how he comes to know the fairy world and how he has to deal with it in order to save it. I very much appreciated the SASS he delivers on the regular. This is my kind of fairy story.

Tom Brightwind or How The Ferry Bridge was Built at Thoresby was alright. I don't have much to say about it on the whole, though I did appreciate the main characters - particularly Tom who I found particularly funny. I laughed out loud when he spoke about how many wars in the fairy world he was involved in.

Antickes and Frets was decent, though not necessarily my type of thing. This is again more historical fiction than the others. Mary, Queen of Scots, wasn't necessarily the most fun protagonist.

John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner was almost situational comedy and I thought it was fun, though I'm not likely to say, "Hey, you should read this one in particular." It simply wasn't among my favorites.

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, absolutely. As a matter of fact, I already have.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

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