The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories - Softcover

Susanna Clarke is the author of the international bestseller Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It was published in over thirty countries, shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Guardian First Book Award and the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. It also won the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award in 2005. Susanna Clarke lives in Cambridge. Charles Vess's graphic narrative work has appeared in, among other publications, Spider-man, The Sandman, The Books of Magic and his own self-published The Book of Ballads and Sagas and has earned him two Will Eisner Comic Industry awards. In 1999 he received the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist for his illustrations for Stardust (a collaboration with Neil Gaiman). He lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. For more information about the art of Charles Vess please visit his website at www.greenmanpress.com.

This should have been a terrific production. Clarke's first novel, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, was wonderfully written and deservedly popular. Narrator Simon Prebble, who did such a great job narrating that book, is an AUDIOFILE Golden Voice, as is Davina Porter. So why is this collection of short stories of limited appeal? One reason is that even though the stories are magical, highly literate, and complex, they are also often hard to follow, despite the best narration. Another reason is that while the many admirers of JONATHAN STRANGE will recognize some characters, and other readers will appreciate the folk and fairy tale traditions Clarke draws upon, many will find those references obscure. That said, there <> an audience that will like this production very much. S.K. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine