Source of book: Audiobook and physical book from the library
This is another book I started on audiobook with my wife. Because it is short stories, we figured it would work even if we didn’t finish all of the stories, which is how it worked out. I read the last few in physical form.
While I haven’t read Clarke’s gigantic magnum opus, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I did read Piranesi.
The Ladies of Grace Adieu is set more or less in the same world as Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and they do in fact make a very brief cameo in one story. However, knowledge of the other book isn’t necessary to enjoy this one.
Really, all you need to know is that it is set in an alternate Victorian Era, when the fairy folk still exist, and interact with regular mortals. That, and it might help to know some of your darker traditional fairytales, as a few of the stories are retellings of those.
As with many short story collections, I will go through each story individually.
The Ladies of Grace Adieu
This story involves the three young ladies of Grace Adieu, a fictional country estate. It is set in the Strange and Norrell universe - they make cameos - but also, it was written before the longer book. It was Clarke’s first published short story, and is referenced (apparently) in the book.
The three women may loosely fit the “threefold goddess” idea, but they are also very much in the “witch” category. The tale takes a deliciously dark turn when some vapid young men decide foolishly to take on the ladies, and run afoul of their magic.
Like a few other stories in this bunch, it reads like one of Grimm’s more proto-feminist stories, except even more overt in flipping gendered power.
On Lickerish Hill
This one is a retelling of the Rumplestiltskin story. But it is also done in a way that spoofs antiquarian John Aubrey - it has all the archaic spellings and writing style of his works, and also has the character that resembles him give totally worthless advice. This is another story that puts a feminist spin on a classic idea.
Mrs. Mabb
Another story that draws on older tales, this one too explores feminist themes. When Venitia’s fiance, Captain Fox, disappears, and rumors are heard that he has abandoned her for the mysterious and venerated Mrs. Mabb, she takes matters into her own hands. Multiple times, she sets out to find the fairy’s abode, and finds herself injured and lost. Eventually, her persistence pays off, and Mrs. Mabb gives in and returns Captain Fox, who is bewildered by his strange adventures.
This one looks at accusations of “hysteria,” as well as the way that “respectable” men often function to protect the powerful.
The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse
This one is pretty short. The Duke wanders into fairyland and finds a woman creating a tapestry that appears to be his future. And it is not a good future. So, when she leaves, he unweaves what she has weaved, and creates his own.
Mr. Simonelli, or The Fairy Widower
This is a particularly surreal story, with an atmosphere that is as rainy and dark as any Bronte tale. It is also narrated by the central character, who is a thoroughly unreliable narrator. Indeed, nobody is reliable in this story, everyone is amoral, and the story is a bit difficult to follow. I heard it on audiobook, but went back and read it again, just to figure it out.
It is another one where the line between fairy and human isn’t as clear as one might think. It also has some interesting parallels and references to Jane Austen, if you pay attention.
Tom Brightwind, or How the Fairy Bridge was Built at Thoersby
This is another story deliberately written in an archaic style, as a parody of other writing. It features a Jewish doctor and his fairy companion (Tom Brightwind.) The two of them travel to see one of the doctor’s distant patients, but end up embroiled in a local situation about a bridge that never got built. I did find it amusing that the introduction to it dissed the story, by claiming it suffered from all the faults of melodramatic stories of its time.
Antickes and Frets
An alternative history of Mary, Queen of Scots, where Elizabeth I, through one of her female friends, Bess of Hardwick, kills her enemies by magic.
John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner
Another story that is heavily influenced by older tales. It is kind of a variation on the early Christian “devout person outwits the magic pagan” story. But it is also the “peasant outwits the king” kind of story as well. This story was apparently not previously published.
Overall, I found the stories to be interesting, but not as compelling or engrossing as Piranesi. The title story and the Queen Mabb ones were my favorites. The audiobook was fine, but the physical book has delightful illustrations by Charles Vess, so that might be a factor in determining which to read.
Mary, Queen of Scots...
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