Title: The Wood at MidwinterAuthor: Susanna Clarke
First Published: October 22, 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 64
Genre: Fantasy, Short Stories
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
From the bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees-and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.
One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst-and the path of her life is changed forever.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story and an afterword by Susanna Clarke explaining how she came to write it, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
The Wood at Midwinter is a winter fairy tale set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Every page is adorned with illustrations that were wonderful to look at, the entire book is beautifully designed. The story itself is lovely and atmospheric, and it reads like a classic Grimm fairy tale. It’s a decent short read for the Yule season, and I enjoyed reading it over the holidays. I just found it a little too short and the story rushes to a hasty conclusion, which keeps the story from being all that impactful for me personally.
Quote
“The wood said, All woods join up with all other woods. All are one wood. And in that wood all times join up with all other times. All is one moment.”
About the Author
About Susanna Clarke
Susanna Clarke was born in Nottingham in 1959, and spent her childhood in Northern England and Scotland.
She studied philosophy, politics and economics at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford and taught in Turin and Bilbao for two years, before becoming an editor at Simon and Schuster in Cambridge, working on their cookery list. She is the author of seven short stories and novellas, published in anthologies in the USA. One of her short stories, ‘The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse’ was published in a limited edition, and her story ‘Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower’ was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award 2001.
In 2004, her first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was published. It tells the story of two magicians in early 19th-century London and was shortlisted for the 2004 Guardian First Book Award and the Whitbread First Novel Award.
Susanna Clarke lives in Cambridge. Her most recent book is The Ladies of Grace Adieu (2006), a collection of short stories.
Discover more from Radical Dreamer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
