The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

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The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (ISBN 0-7475-8703-5) is a collection of 8 short stories, some of which are set in the same world as the novel of magic, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It is Susanna Clarke's second book, although some of the stories were previously published in anthologies such as Patrick Nielsen Hayden's Starlight 1.^[1]

Like the novel preceding it, the collection contains illustrations by Charles Vess.

The following is a quote from the press release:

The Ladies of Grace Adieu takes the reader deep into the world of Faerie and some stories feature characters from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, including some from the footnotes. Sometimes you find you have crossed an invisible line and must cope, as best you can, with petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time embroidering terrible fates, or with endless paths in deep dark woods and houses that never appear the same way twice. The heroines and heroes bedevilled by such problems in these fairytales include a conceited Regency clergyman, an 18th-century Jewish doctor, Mary Queen of Scots and Jonathan Strange himself.

[edit] Contents

The collection contains 8 short stories plus an introduction.

Introduction by Professor James Sutherland, Director of Sidhe Studies, University of Aberdeen (a fictional person & university course)
The Ladies of Grace Adieu
On Lickerish Hill
Mrs Mabb
The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse - Set in the world of Neil Gaiman's novel Stardust, and available online at the author's website
Mr Simonelli or the Fairy Widower
Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby
Antickes and Frets
John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner - an extract of which is available online at the author's website