Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrellAuthor Looks Back on Novel's 20th Anniversary: Fantasy Allows You to 'Look Away'

Mar. 15, 2025

Susanna Clarke and the cover of ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’.Photo:David M. Benett/Getty; Bloomsbury Publishing

David M. Benett/Getty; Bloomsbury Publishing

English author Susanna Clarke burst onto the literary scene in her mid-forties when she published the 800-page fantasy novelJonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. But the writer was initially unsure about the success of her now-acclaimed 2004 debut.In a Nov. 6 episode of theNew York Times’Culture Deskshow, re-published on Dec. 27, the author looked back on her career with reporter Alexandra Alter, as well as the origins ofJonathan Strange, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024.Clarke, now 65, grew up in a household where “displays of emotion were discouraged.” Her family moved to various towns across England and Scotland throughout her childhood, and she turned to fantasy novels.“This is a bit of a sweeping comment, but a lot of literature of the late 20th century was hyper-focused on the human,” Clarke said. “That was sort of deemed the only thing that that novel should be about, was about human feelings and human reactions and human relationships. And fantasy, I think, particularly with [C.S.] Lewis and [J.R.R.] Tolkien and people who followed, allows you to look away from the human to the other.”

Susanna Clarke in Sept. 2021.David M. Benett/Getty

David M. Benett/Getty

Clarke went on to study politics, economics and philosophy at Oxford College. Though she wrote on the side, Clarke noted that she often couldn’t finish her projects and almost gave up writing. It wasn’t until the 1990s, when she taught English in Spain, that she found herself turning back to the books of her childhood. Clarke realized that she wanted to move back to England to write and she began working onJonathan Strange.

“I kinda think what I do is so peculiar and a product of my rather peculiar imagination,” Clarke said. “I didn’t think that people would be interested in [the novel]. It seemed quite a long way from what other people were doing.”The novel, about two rival magicians trying to alter 19th-century Britain with their craft, would go on to sell 4 million copies. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and earned a nomination for the Booker Prize. The book also cemented Clarke as one of today’s most beloved fantasy novelists.

Bloomsbury Publishing

“In literature and in fantasy, there was some representation of emotion that was ecstasy and terror and fear and loathing and love,” Clarke said of the fantasy genre. “And I think a lot of what people look for in different sorts of art is emotion. It’s color.”

“I was invited to go up to Yorkshire to see them film it,” Clarke said. “And that was kind of a revelation, partly because I sort of arrived, then I got treated as an author, which I really no longer thought of myself as. I just thought to myself as this ill woman. That was a bit of a turning point.”

Susanna Clarke in Sept. 2021.Ian West/PA Images/Getty

Ian West/PA Images/Getty

“I just felt, well, maybe I can write again,” Clarke added. “These people seem to think I’m a writer. Possibly, I am.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Clarke would later write the 2006 short story collectionThe Ladies of Grace Adieu, 2020 bestsellerPiranesi, and the 2024 illustrated storyThe Wood at Midwinter.

source: people.com