A BIG book that has been much hyped. I was not disappointed; I loved every word and there are a great many, including footnotes. Clarke's prose looks to the past: the young Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, both in style, which she captures excellently, and in approach - discursive. Described as 'fantasy' this is rather a fairytale, with its dark, surreal twists, humour and social comment, set against the real background of the Napoleonic wars.
(Ferelith Hordon - bwl 27 December 2004 ) |
