Have you read ... Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell?

   

    I am bookless at the moment - betwixt and between - and just like having "nothing to wear", no book seems to fit or suit or 'do'. Contrarily, while looking for something short that might fill the brief gap before another deadline-related book looms, I've picked up something very long indeed, Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. We've had a copy since it first came out, but it was a sudden notion to be in a very different world, book-wise, that made me think of it today and take it from the shelf.

    I'm not sure whether I'll have time to read it now, but I love the sound of it, the early nineteenth century England with its magical element, the "dark and stormy nights", the "elegant, witty and utterly compelling" story.

    Have you read it?