The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (2006)

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, published in October 2006 by Bloomsbury, is a collection of eight short stories by British writer Susanna Clarke, illustrated by Charles Vess. The stories, which are sophisticated fairy tales, focus on the power of women and are set in the same alternative history as Clarke's debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004), in which magic has returned to England. The stories are written in a pastiche of 18th- and 19th-century styles and their tone is macabre as well as satirical. The volume was generally well received, though some critics compared it unfavorably to Jonathan Strange.

Contents and themes

The collection, presented as the work of several different writers, contains an introduction and eight fairy tales, seven of which had been previously anthologized. The volume's focus on "female mastery of the dark arts" is reflected in the ladies of Grace Adieu's magical abilities and the prominent role needlework plays in saving the Duke of Wellington and Mary, Queen of Scots. The collection is a "sly, frequently comical, feminist revision" of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. In tone, the stories are similar to the clear yet impassive narrator's voice of Jonathan Strange.

"Introduction" by Professor James Sutherland, Director of Sidhe Studies, University of Aberdeen. Written in the same postmodern style as Jonathan Strange, the "introduction" to the collection by fictional Professor Sutherland speculates on the "sources" for the stories. Clarke begins by describing his "two very modest aims": "The first is to throw some sort of light on the development of magic in the British Isles at different periods; the second is to introduce the reader to some of the ways in which Faerie can impinge upon our own quotidian world, in other words to create a sort of primer to Faerie and fairies."

"The Ladies of Grace Adieu" was Clarke's first published story. While working on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, she enrolled in a writing course co-taught by Colin Greenland and Geoff Ryman, which required each student to submit a completed short story before the course began. Clarke culled "The Ladies of Grace Adieu" from her incipient novel. Greenland was so impressed with the story that, without Clarke's knowledge, he sent an excerpt to his friend, the fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. Gaiman later said, "It was terrifying from my point of view to read this first short story that had so much assurance ... It was like watching someone sit down to play the piano for the first time and she plays a sonata." Gaiman showed the story to his friend, science-fiction writer and editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden. Clarke learned of these events when Hayden called and offered to publish her story in his anthology Starlight 1 (1996), which featured pieces by well-regarded science-fiction and fantasy writers. She accepted and the book won the World Fantasy Award for best anthology in 1997.

The story is set in early 19th-century Gloucestershire and concerns the friendship of three young women, Cassandra Parbringer, Miss Tobias, and Mrs. Fields. Though the events of the story do not actually appear in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, they are referenced in a footnote in Chapter 43. Clarke has said:

For a long time it was my hope that these three ladies should eventually find a place in [Jonathan Strange] ... I decided there was no place for them ... I deliberately kept women to the domestic sphere in the interests of authenticity ... it was important that real and alternate history appeared to have converged. This meant that I needed to write the women and the servants, as far as possible, as they would have been written in a 19th-century novel.

Reviewers of the short story collection highlighted this tale, one calling it "the most striking story" of the volume and "a staunchly feminist take on power relations". Victoria Hoyle in Strange Horizons writes in particular that "there is something incredibly precise, clean, and cold about Clarke's portrayal of 'women's magic' in this story (and throughout the collection)—it is urgent and desperate, but it is also natural and in the course of things."

"On Lickerish Hill" is a retelling of the Rumplestiltskin tale. Narrated by the 17th-century Suffolk bride Miranda Sowreston, it tells of how she resorts to magic to spin enough flax to satisfy her husband's demands. As Hoyle explains, in order to avoid "imprisonment, murder, dismemberment, or sexual slavery", Miranda must defeat not only her captor but also the man attempting to save her. The story satirizes the antiquarian John Aubrey and his ilk, as Aubrey's advice to Miranda and her husband turns out to be largely worthless. Written in the form of an old diary, the text includes archaic spellings; for example, Miranda's assistant is described as "[a] small black thinge. Hairie. Legges like jug-handles. Face – not a bitt handsome."

"Mrs Mabb" is a story about a 19th-century woman, Venetia Moore, whose fiancé, Captain Fox, leaves her for the mysterious Mrs. Mabb (who turns out to be Queen Mab). Devastated, Venetia attempts to get him back. In the process, she becomes enchanted and, for example, ends up wandering around a cemetery with bleeding bare feet. The community assumes she is insane. However, as Lucy Atkins in The Times notes, who calls this "most memorable" story of the collection, "for her this is not madness, it is persistence." As Hoyle argues, in this story Clarke toys with the stereotypes of women as both hysterical and intuitive.

"The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse" is set in the village of Wall, which is part of Gaiman's novel Stardust (also illustrated by Vess). In this story, the Duke enters Faerie, where he finds a Lady of Shalott figure embroidering a tapestry of what appears to be his future. Frustrated by the seeming inevitability of his fate, he unweaves her tapestry and resews his own future to match his desires. Hoyle calls this story "trite" and "clichéd", however.