The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

By: Susanna Clarke

Narrated by: Simon Prebble, Davina Porter

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Following the enormous success of 2004 bestseller and critics' favorite Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke delivers a delicious collection of ten stories set in the same fairy-crossed world of 19th-century England. With Clarke's characteristic historical detail and diction, these dark, enchanting tales unfold in a slightly distorted version of our own world, where people are bedeviled by mischievous interventions from the fairies. With appearances from beloved characters from her novel, including Jonathan Strange and Childermass, and an entirely new spin on certain historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, this is a must-have for fans of Susanna Clarke and an enticing introduction to her work for new listeners.

©2006 Susanna Clarke (P)2006 Audio Renaissance, a divison of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"All but one of the stories takes place in or around 1811, and Clarke uses the language, diction, and historical settings beautifully, just hinting at Jane Austen. Each character is elegantly drawn and comes to life....These stories are charming, engaging, and deceptively simple." (Booklist)

Wonderful

These are wonderful stories, maybe even better than her long novel "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" which I read first and enjoyed very much. Smart, entertaining, witty, I recommend this very highly.

Slowly draws you into her world

Having not read Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell (though it's been on my shelf for ages) I was a bit bemused by the first story and almost gave up. I loved the language and atmosphere, but found the characters hard to engage with and wasn't always entirely sure exactly what was going on.
However the next story, an evocative, whimsical and cheeky retelling of the English folk tale Tom Tit Tot, totally sucked me in and from then on I was completely hooked. The two readers worked well for me, they each brought something different to the stories, though in some ways it would have made things clearer if they'd alternated story by story as sometimes the transition from one story to another was unclear. Also it would be nice if the chapters were each individual stories, so you could easily navigate back to the beginning of a story (if, like me, you sometimes vague out and then suddenly realise you are not sure what's going on).

I listened to these in the last weeks of my pregnancy as I walked the hills and bushlands of my area and it totally transformed the surrounding environment into Clarke's fairytale world. I think this will be the first audio book experience I will treasure as an experience with its own peculiarly intimate geography - something I usually identify with the physical terrain of the book.

Recommended for people with an interest in fairy and folktales, fans of Neil Gaiman, Angela Carter, Margaret Mahy. If you like this I highly recommend Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels, which uses Snow White and Rose Red as a storytelling frame. Be warned though, Lanagan's world is far less benign than Clarke's fairy landscape of tricksters and sprites and does contain confronting themes.

My favorite Audible listen!!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu is my favorite Audible listen. My default Audible listen,

Forgettable stories with forgettable characters.

It was difficult to develop any real connection with the characters. The delivery was so flat and wooden.

Fairy Tales...not much more

For those hoping for a continuation (or even just an expansion) of the Strange and Norell arc, you will be sorely disappointed. This felt like a collection of extended footnotes from the book itself. Not a bad read, by any means...but very different than her magnum opus.

Lovely stories; minor issues with audio file

I read this book way back in 2007 shorty after it was first published, and I've been meaning to reread it for years but hadn't gotten around to it. For some reason on a whim I decided to grab the audio version a few days ago, and I'm so glad I did! Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of my all-time favorites, and not only do I love being drawn back into that world, but the narrators are fantastic as well (Simon Prebble narrated the original novel, which I've enjoyed listening to more than once).

Minor gripe, I don't believe it's been mentioned, but there's an issue with the chapter break between "Mr Simonelli" and "Tom Brightwind." Despite the fact that the audio continues correctly with the story of Mr Simonelli, the chapter switches to "Tom Brightwind" a full 37 pages early! This is fine if you are listening through consecutively, but will be an issue if you want to go directly to "Tom Brightwind" as you'll end up listening to a good chunk of the previous story (Simonelli) before "Tom Brightwind" begins.

Charming, Magical, Literate

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's novel "Jonathan Strange." These stories have many of the same charming features, but with more of an emphasis on women's magic, and Jonathan Strange meets his match at one point. There's nothing quite like this author's style and imagination; it is unique.

five stars to the readers

Not much story in these stories (one of them was quite good). The author does what she is genuinely good at which is dialogue from the Regency era and the readers did an awesome job with the material . I'm glad I listened to it inaudible format. I would not have finished it if it were printed.

Much lighter than Clarke's longer works

These short stories were written in Susanna Clarke's entertaining style, and have many references to the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (including Strange himself at one point). Part of the appeal of her novels is the deep intricacies she weaves into the extended plots, and unfortunately these stories don't have the length to allow such things. As a result they come off much simpler. I'm not sure how much they'd appeal to someone who hasn't read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but if you enjoyed that book and don't mind some simpler / cartoonish plots in order to get another taste of that world, this compilation is worth a read.

Fun Fables set in the world of Strange & Norrell

So after listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell I was desperate to see if there was anything else written by Susannah Clarke in the same world. Although a direct sequel or a similar novel doesn't seem to be on the horizon there is The Ladies of Grace Adieu, which is a collection of short stories set in the same world as Strange and Norrell.

Unlike the massive doorstopper that is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Ladies of Grace Adieu can be listened to in just a few hours. Each story is pretty short and some are a little unsatisfying because of it but overall it's a fun read if not as satisfying as the main novel.

The stories are a little bit hit or miss. Most I enjoyed but the title story seemed kind of boring and pointless to me as well as Mrs. Mabb, and On Lickerish Hill.

This book has two narrators. Simon Prebble did the main novel and it was good to hear him narrating again. Davina Porter does an excellent job of narrating the female protagonist stories as well.

The key difference between this and the main novel, is that some of my favorite parts of the main novel were when it focused on the magic situations as strange and a little terrifying. There's really only one story here that fits that bill, it's the Mr. Simonelli one.

Overall though, it's a nice lighthearted fun desert after the main course of Strange & Norrell but personally, I'm still left wanting more in this wonderful magical universe that Susannah Clarke has created.