This week we have been mainly listening to......

This week / month we have been mainly listening to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, a wonderful tale of magic set in England around the time of the Napoleonic wars. This is not a small book, even by Bev's standards - it is a massive tome of a book, equating to 32 hours of listening in the car, but was worth every minute! The book introduces us to an England that is a blend of real and imaginary characters, places and events, including the imaginary magicians of the title along with the real characters of Napoleon, Lord Byron and mad King George III as well as the real events of the Napoleonic wars. Susanna Clarke's world, like Tolkien's, is so perfectly realised that after a couple of chapters you are convinced that magic actually did exist.

We loved everything about the book, including the detailed history of magic introduced through the footnotes, the vast array of fascinating characters, the rambling plot around the Revival of English Magic, and we particularly loved the beautifully-described locations of Yorkshire, Fairy and the dark, gothic Venice.

Carlos once told us that there was no good modern fiction - what tosh, we cry! This is more than good modern fiction, this is the best!