Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

In an alternate early-nineteenth-century England where magic is thought extinct outside history books, the reclusive scholar Gilbert Norrell announces himself the only practical magician left and proves it by making York Minster's statues speak. Relocating to London, he ingratiates himself with the government by aiding the war against Napoleon, and, to win over a key ally, strikes a bargain with a sinister fairy to bring a dead woman back to life, at a price left vague. Meanwhile a street prophecy about 'two magicians' inspires the impulsive Jonathan Strange to take up magic himself, setting him against Norrell's caution and control. Susanna Clarke's densely footnoted, alternate-history debut.