Girl Power!: The Best Female Brit Lit in 2015

2015 was a great year for books by British authors. There were new novels that captured our hearts, sequels to beloved past stories, and everything in between. The 2015 literary scene was also dominated by women – in fact, on Kobo, an ebook retailer, the top 10 bestselling books of 2015 were all written by women. I am going to outline my top three favorite books written by female British authors this year (and give you a head start on creating your 2016 reading list!). In no particular order:

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 I can honestly say that The Girl on the Train is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m not usually interested in mystery novels but after hearing rave reviews of this book, I decided to get a copy from my local library. I finished the book in 12 hours. The Girl on the Train is one of those books that you LITERALLY cannot put down. Author Paula Hawkins does a fantastic job with creating well-rounded characters, flawlessly weaving the life of protagonist Rachel, an average English women, into a mystery for the ages. The ending was twisted, offering both shock and relief, a feat not easily achieved by a writer. The film version of this book, with an all-star cast of Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Lisa Kudrow, Allison Janey, and Luke Evans, is set to be released on October 7, 2016 – make sure you read the book before you hit the theater!

After You by Jojo Moyes
After You is the sequel to the beloved novel Me Before You. Me Before You told the story of Will
Traynor, a man who seemingly “had it all” before an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, and Louisa Clark, his caretaker. Will and Louisa’s lives intertwined, creating an intricate and emotional story with an unexpected ending. You can read our review of the book here. Jojo Moyes returns to the world of Louisa and Will in After You, giving readers the rare opportunity to see what happens after the story seemingly ends. Raw, emotional, and beautifully written, Moyes tackles the very real issues of love, loss, and redemption through her unique writing style. Me Before You will be released as a film on March 4, 2016 and stars Sam Claflin, Emilia Clarke, Jenna Coleman, and Neville Longbottom himself, Matthew Lewis.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy is a companion to Rachel Joyce’s wildly popular The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. What makes these two books so interesting is the fact that they are not prequel and sequel, but rather happen in the same space of time. Harold Fry tells the tale of a retiree named Harold who travels across England by foot to visit a co-worker (Queenie Hennessy) who has cancer. Along the way, we learn more about Harold’s past, including the secrets surrounding his mysterious family life and his relationship to Queenie. However, it’s not until Queenie Hennessy, written from Queenie’s perspective, that we learn about her life and connections to Harold’s past. I was unsure how I would feel about Queenie Hennessy at first, as many authors have had difficulty in publishing the same story from a different perspective. However, Joyce gives us new characters, new information, and a completely new perspective, offering an entirely different story built from a familiar tale. There are no talks of a film adaption yet, but I have to believe that a story this good will be snatched up soon!

What were your favorite British books of 2015? Leave a comment below or let us know on Twitter!

Happy reading,
Rae

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The Bodleian Library was my first stop when I moved to Oxford for the semester and, as I do with all new cities I call home, quickly obtained my library card. While researching amongst its stacks, its English gothic architecture made it feel too romantic and mysterious to be real. It was like reading on a glamorous film set (a few Harry Potter scenes were actually filmed there, so technically it is both real and a film set). Whenever I reflect back on my time at Oxford, the Bodleian Library is home to some of my favorite memories.

It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe and second largest in England. First opened in 1602, it has grown from a small collection of chained books to over 11 million items that are stored deep under the cobblestones of Oxford, known as underground bookstacks.

The Happiest of Birthdays to you, Bodleian Libraries! I can’t wait to see what the next 413 years bring for this Oxford treasure.

Love,
Shan

Halloween DIY: Harry Potter Edition

Looking for a last minute Halloween costume? No fear, dear readers – I’ve got you covered! For the past 2 years, my friends and I have thrown a Harry Potter-themed Halloween party we like to call “Potterween.” It’s filled with cauldron cakes, love potion, HP trivia, balloon owls, and a wand-making station, among other festivities. The best part, though, is dressing in a Harry Potter costume (and seeing what character everyone else decided to be!). I am still living on a student budget and try to be as creative (and cheap!) as possible when it comes to my Halloween costumes. In this post, I am going to show you two budget-friendly ways to bring a little HP magic into your own Halloween costume!

Luna Lovegood

Materials needed: blazer, patterned skirt, brightly colored tights/leggings, striped socks, converse-type shoes, spectrespecs, “Butterbeer” cork necklace, copies of the Quibbler 

Luna Lovegood is one of my favorite HP characters and I loved the idea of wearing a rather crazy ensemble to Potterween. A nice thing about this costume is that you don’t have to match the colors that Luna is wearing exactly – as long as you have bright colors and wonky patterns on the base elements of the outfit (blazer, skirt, tights, shoes) and finish off the look with her signature spectrespecs, you’re good to go!
What I owned: I already owned a pink blazer and pink leggings, which I decided to wear in lieu of blue tights. I also had crazy knee-high striped socks (actually purchased in the UK!) and converse-style shoes.
What I bought: The only item that I actually pursed for this costume was the skirt. I went thrift store scavenging and ended up finding my fabulous flowered skirt for only $5. My friend went as Umbridge this year and found a $4 pink twill blazer that could also be used for this Luna costume.
What I made: I made the spectrespecs and let me tell you guys, they were SO EASY. I found this printable on Pinterest, cut them out, and taped them on to a pair of fake glasses I had already owned (I think they were about $4 from H&M). You could also get some old sunglasses and knock out the lenses. I also made the “Butterbeer” cork necklace by threading a cork from a wine bottle onto a chain that I already owned. I made my own copy of the Quibbler by printing this template and taping it on to a DVD case (it fit a little better than a book). Now you just need to wander around in a constant daydream state and ask people about nargles to make the look complete!

Fawkes the Phoenix

Materials needed: red/gold outfit (dress, pants, skirt, top), red/gold wings, mask or makeup, gold glitter, black lipstick

I wanted to go as a nontraditional character this year. I thought about the snitch but was having a difficult time finding anything gold (this must be the year of silver). I ran across a couple photos of people dressed as Fawkes on the internet and thought it would be a fun idea! The Fawkes costume is pretty easy and open to interpretation – basically, his feathers are red and gold, so as long as you ~mostly~ stay in that color palette and find some wings and a way to make your face look like a beak, you’ll be set to go!
What I owned: I settled on dressing as Fakwes partially because I owned a multi-colored red and gold maxi dress. I also wore a yellow cardigan that I already owned because it’s cold in Michigan right now, guys. I wore a simple pair of black flats, but you could always dress it up a little more with some sparkly red or gold shoes.
What I bought: I ended up finding the perfect pair of red wings at Target for $10. I loved that they had wrist straps so that they were easy to wear and looked like actual bird wings. I also ended up purchasing a simple black mask from Meijer. I thought it looked pretty birdlike, and I knew I would be running low on time to get ready for the party. If you would rather do your own Fawkes makeup, I found this fantastic video tutorial. I also ended up getting a 50 cent gold glitter eye shadow to use underneath the mask (word of warning, though – glitter is SO HARD to get off) and black lipstick (I found one from Makeup Revolution called “100% Vamp”) to finish the beak look.
What I made: I actually didn’t make much for this costume! You certainly could sew your own wings or create your own beak with makeup. Overall, this was a fairly easy costume that turned out to be pretty, comfortable, and a hit at Potterween!

I hope this gives you some creative ideas for your own Halloween costumes, fellow HP fans!

With magical love,
Rae

Spooky Reads by U.K. Authors

October is one of my favorite months of the year with cooler days, leaves changing color, and something a little spooky in the air. I’ve always been interested in supernatural folklore and even wrote my master’s thesis on the rhetoric of Reformation-era ghost belief and how it compares to contemporary ghost hunting TV shows. While I am not a fan of horror movies, I do enjoy a good book with a hint of the haunted and some of my favorites hail from the good ‘ole U.K. Curl up with one of these spooky tales this October to get in the Halloween spirit.

The Samuel Johnson Series by John Connolly featuring “The Gates“, “The Infernals“, and “The Creeps“

The Samuel Johnson series follows the adventures of the young British boy, Samuel, and his loyal dachshund, who accidentally stumble upon the gates of hell, which have suddenly appeared on his street just days before Halloween. Samuel must battle the horrors of the underworld to save the world and keep these two very different planes of existence apart.

What I appreciated most about these books, something you might not immediately glean from a brief synopsis, is that this book is absolutely hilarious. With that classic British, self-depreciating humor, the book is a smart social commentary on belief and science set in supernatural times.

“The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman

As an infant, young Bod escaped the clutches of his family’s murderer and hid away in the town graveyard. Found by the graveyard’s ghostly inhabitants, Bod is raised on the cusp of life and death, learning how to traverse the world unseen like his ghostly adopted parents. His life changes when his family’s murderer returns, intent on finishing the job, and Bod must learn how to live life like real living, breathing boy.

Gaiman paints a realistic picture of this graveyard world, which so seamlessly intertwines the living and the dead. It also introduced an interesting mix of supernatural beings with their own unique lore and a good dose of dark humor.

“The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story” by Susan Hill

I have to admit, I did not like the movie adaptation of this book starring Harry Potter…I mean, Daniel Radcliffe. However, the book did a better job of building anticipation and making this haunting about more than a just a ghost popping up behind you. Set in the late 18th century, a young London solicitor is asked to settle the affairs of one of his clients, an elderly woman who lived in a frightening house in the middle of an eerie marsh and passed away leaving very few details about her estate. Classic. As he digs through her papers, he finds that he is not completely alone in the house and its dark past begins to reveal itself. However, the ghostly being begins to follow him into town, carrying with it an illness that affects the town’s children. A nice spooky read that leaves you thinking long after its finished.

“The Romance of the Forest” by Anne Radcliffe

Written in 1792, “The Romance of the Forest” was one of the first books written in what would become the classic gothic genre and is even cited as the inspiration for Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey.” The orphaned Adeline joins de La Motte family as they flee into the French wilderness to escape their creditors and to keep the vulnerable Adeline away from the wicked men of her hometown. As they flee, their wagon wheel breaks and they are forced to hide out in an abandoned abbey with its traditional gothic decor of trap doors, darkened passageways, spiders, and even a skeleton hidden in a chest. Adeline’s naïveté makes her especially susceptible to the spooky surroundings – add in a villainous aristocrat bent on marrying her and a dashing hero vying to save her from her haunted woodland home and you’ve got a supernatural adventure that has remained popular for more than 200 years.

I first read “The Romance of the Forest” as an assignment for my British Literature class at Oxford. I was instantly drawn into the beautifully written landscape and the haunted abbey that psychologically impacted the cast of complex characters. If you haven’t read what is considered a classic “gothic”, this is the perfect book to introduce you to the genre.

“Ghostwalk” by Rebecca Stott

Set in Cambridge in 2002, the body of a local historian is found dead in the river with a half finished manuscript on Sir Isaac Newton left in her home. Protagonist, Lydia, is asked by the historian’s son, who also happens to be her ex-lover, to move into the historian’s home and finish the book. She begins to make connections between the historian’s untimely death and the suspicious deaths of a number of Cambridge scholars who interacted with Newton in the 1600’s. Lydia also suspects that she is not alone in the house (which is not surprising since the historian hadn’t been dead long before Lydia moved in) and begins to see a phantom that looks peculiarly like Newton.

This book was a surprising mix of fiction and non-fiction elements – I learned a lot about some of Newton’s less known research and enjoyed the supernatural themes that wove into the hard science. A unique read that, much like “The Lady in Black,” builds its intensity slowly until the history that Lydia is researching collides with the present.

Enjoy these spooky U.K. books this October…if you dare!
Shan

The Many Lives of WWII: A Review of Kate Atkinson’s Historical Fiction

I’ve always been a history buff (something Rae and I have in common), and have spent much of my academic career (and a lot of free time) studying WWII. When I stumbled upon Life After Life by Kate Atkinson this spring, I was expecting another traditional first person account of the war. I was wrong. Instead of one account of WWII, readers are treated to a panoramic view of the many subtle and grand ways the war tore at the lives of English countrymen. Not to spoil the story, but the protagonist, Ursula Todd, dies. At least a dozen times, over and over again, restarting her life to make a different decision that changes her circumstances and reveals another viewpoint on the war. She experiences Germany as an English study abroad student witnessing the rise of the Third Reich, ultimately finding herself interacting with Hitler himself, and experiences the London Blitz, as she crawls through the carnage as a member of the rescue team sent out to find survivors. Even with the jarring death and ultimate resurrection of our protagonist at the end of each chapter, Atkinson’s beautifully written characters remain consistent, responding realistically when faced with an entirely new reality and set of circumstances. The plot is rich with intersecting storylines and detailed descriptions of England at war.

Life After Life is one of those books that you keep reflecting back on, that makes you think about reality, the choices we make, and what really matters in the end.

A God in Ruins, the Life After Life companion novel, was released this May and I was initially nervous to reenter Atkinson’s deeply emotional plot without the promise of a new life at the end of each chapter. The story follows Teddy Todd, Ursula’s younger brother, who fights for England as a WWII Royal Air Force pilot and lives each bloody day with the understanding that it may be his last (and in a few of Ursula’s timelines in Life After Life he doesn’t survive…). To Teddy’s great surprise, he does survive and is left wondering what to do next. While Teddy only has one timeline, the plot moves true to Atkinson’s non-linear style, bouncing between his wartime experiences and the path his life takes into old age. Teddy struggles to embrace a world post-WWII that he doesn’t understand with a family untarnished by his own challenging RAF experiences. As Atkinson explains in the Author’s Note, this is one of Ursula’s potential timelines and while many of the same characters remain, the reader does not know where Teddy’s life will take them. I found myself deeply invested in Teddy’s life, exploring the war from the skies above Germany to the lasting effects of deep loss and pain. It is also a moving exploration of aging and the emotional toll of fading away slowly into death.

The ending of A God in Ruins was marvelous and a shuddering reminder of the power of the author and, ultimately, of the steady flow of time. Both books share the common theme that these lifetimes and stories exist only for those who survive the bloodshed of a terrible war. They both provide a fresh new perspective on England during WWII and explore its impact on the culture and people of England during the conflict and for decades after.

Enjoy fellow history friends!
Shan

A Review of Me Before You

“You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.”

I make a habit of trying to read every book from my mom’s book club. They have a knack for picking the “next big thing.” Last June, my mom told me the most recent book they had read was set in England and I was automatically sold. I got my hands on a copy of Me Before You (2012) by Jojo Moyes from my local library and devoured it within days. I laughed, I cried, and I was changed. Me Before You is among the top books that I’ve read, and I consistently give copies of it to friends. It’s an incredible story that so accurately describes the human condition, and the will to keep on living.

One of my favorite parts of Me Before You is the way Moyes plays with shifting perspectives, especially in exploring the intertwining lives of main characters Will Traynor and Louisa Clark. Will was a successful businessman in London who seemed to have everything in place, from his beautiful girlfriend to his perfect, successful job. Will’s life is tossed upside down when he is involved in a terrible accident and left paralyzed from the neck down, forced to move back to the countryside with his parents. In contrast, Louisa is a twenty-six year old living in a sleepy English village with her parents, sister, and sister’s toddler son, and she works at a local cafe. To Will, this life looks utterly boring and meaningless but to Louisa, it is perfect. Just like Will, Louisa’s life is thrown for a loop when the cafe closes and she loses her job. She is forced to look elsewhere for employment, which is how she and Will end up meeting: Louisa becomes Will’s caretaker. Roles and perspectives shift as Will goes from making executive decisions at his job to not being able to feed himself, and Louisa, a quiet cafe assistant, is suddenly in charge of Will’s physical well-being.

Me Before You  explores deep themes, including the human will to survive and the purpose of life. As Will and Louisa’s relationship begins to deepen, Louisa realizes the full extent of Will’s unhappiness. Will found purpose for living in his life before the accident. He had purpose in his job, in his relationships, in his material wealth. His purpose was connected to the use of his body and once he lost that, he also lost his purpose, his hopes, dreams, and goals, and any desire for a future as a quadriplegic. Louisa’s life course is the opposite of Will. Though she was content in her job at the cafe, she finds her purpose as a caretaker for Will. Two lives intersect, both searching for the same thing: a reason to live, a reason to keep going, a reason to make it through tomorrow.

Moyes is an expert at character development. I felt immediately connected to Louisa and Will, experiencing their emotions and getting caught up in their story as if it was my own. They are also well-rounded characters. Will comes off as cocky and irritating but has another, softer side. Louisa may seem meek at first, but she is a feisty, sassy young woman who matches Will’s sarcasm. The other characters in the story are masterfully created, as well. Will’s mother Camilla seems cold, but she cares deeply for her son and cannot bear to see him suffer. Louisa’s boyfriend Patrick, a runner and diet obsessive, provides a stark contrast to Will. Nathan, Will’s male nurse and friend, helps Louisa find her place in the Traynor household and provides the initial push for the realization of her purpose in her job and, more broadly, her life. Me Before You is a book of contrasts and shifting perspectives, full of endings and beginnings, the desire to live and the feeling of defeat. This book will make you reflect on your own life, and really, truly think about the question: what makes life worth living?

If you’re like me and NEED MORE after reading this book, you’re in luck! Moyes announced that a sequel called After You will be coming out September 29, and you can read the first chapter online right now! A film adaptation of the book is currently in production, starring Sam Claflin of The Hunger Games and Emilia Clark of Game of Thrones as Will and Louisa, respectively. The movie also features one of our favorite Hogwarts students, Matthew Lewis (who played Neville) in the role of Patrick. Make sure to follow Jojo Moyes on Instagram and Twitter for all of the latest news on the sequel and film!

Happy reading,

Rae

A Bibliophile’s Introduction to Oxford

Oxford, England is a bibliophile’s dream. It has taught and inspired some of England’s finest literary minds since its founding in 1096. While a full exploration of this literary history is enough to fill many blog posts (and probably will in the near future!), this is just an introduction to a few of best places to grab a book and appreciate the literary genius wafting through the air.

Begin your day at Blackwell’s Book Shop, located on Broad Street, which is famous for its World Record as the largest single room selling books. The underground room is massive and the labyrinthine shelving means you could spend hours losing yourself between rows and rows of precious books. The Oxford Broad Street location is the flagship store, which was founded in 1879 and has since expanded throughout England.

Blackwell also offers Literary Walking Tours, which are affordable and feature the haunts of some of those literary greats I was telling you about. They also have a lovely coffee shop that makes hot chocolate with REAL shards of chocolate and just happens to be the best place to crank out a paper on English Romanticism…let’s just say I spent many, MANY hours working in that coffee shop and loved every chocolate-filled minute of it.

During my first trip to Blackwell’s Book Shop, I stumbled upon “An Utterly Impartial History of Britain” by John O’Farrell, which has now become one of my favorite books simply because it is written in such a very British way. Snarky and full of self-depreciating humor, it tells the tale of the British Isles from ancient days to the present and is the only time I’ve ever found myself laughing out loud to a historical tome. This British treasure can be found in the States via Amazon.com.

Next, stop by the Bodleian Library, one of the oldest libraries in Europe. You can’t miss it. Located in the heart of Oxford, the Bodleian Library was established in 1602 and boasts an incredible collection that spreads under the city and is even housed in a number of nearby Oxford colleges. As the primary research library for the University of Oxford, the Bodelian is home to an impressive collection of rare books including Shakespeare’s first folio and an original Gutenberg Bible. This library is stunning, made of ancient brick, and decorated with colorful stained glass windows and gold Renaissance embellishments. Contact the Bodleian Library staff in advance to set up a tour of the stacks and learn the history behind this beautiful symbol of learning in the heart of Oxford. Also, these tours will lead you through the Divinity School, which was the filming location of the infirmary in the first two Harry Potter films!

Finally, after wandering through so many rows of historical texts, you are bound to be parched. End your day at the Eagle and Child, or as the locals call it, the “Bird and Baby,” and grab a pint at this famous pub where the Inklings held their meetings. For those less versed in English literary history, the Inklings comprised of a number of famous Oxford authors, most notably C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, who gathered weekly to discuss their writing from the early 1930s through 1949. This pub may have become a famous literary landmark recently, but the pub has been around since the 16th century!

There you have it – a quick literary romp through Oxford. Pack light, you may end up bringing a couple pounds (or should I say, stone) worth of books back with you!

Happy reading,
Shan

Magic Returns to England: “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” Book Review

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004) is what happens when you mix Jane Austen with J.R.R. Tolkein – a smartly written social comedy with a well-defined, believable world of magic. While not recently published, I rediscovered this book when BBC America adapted it into this summer’s fantastically produced mini-series of the same name. After watching the first episode, I knew that I had to read the book before completing the series (it is one of my personal rules to always read the book before seeing the movie…it is just the English major in me). Don’t let the length scare you (it is comprised of more than 1,000 pages of magic and wonder), it is the perfect summer read and worth hauling this English tome along with you to the beach or pool (as evidenced by the great photo Rae took of enjoying it and her SPF 70 poolside).

JSMN opens in the early 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars with the curmudgeonly Mr. Norrell, a magician who prefers to keep his talents and the secrets of magic hidden in the library of his home in York. Magic is said to be lost with many Englishman studying ancient magical texts but unable to perform magic themselves. Mr. Norrell is determined to hoard magic for himself. He delights in destroying the careers of any other magicians who oppose him – through public humiliation and his determination to hunt down and procure every magic book ever published. After breaking up the the Learned Society of York Magicians, a group of non-practicing, wealthy Englishmen, Mr. Norrell is thrust into the spotlight and encouraged to move to London where his skills would be more appreciated. His first act of magic? Bringing Lady Pole back from the dead in an effort to impress her husband, who has significant influence over the British government. But this piece of magic comes with unforeseen circumstances. Unintentionally, Mr. Norrell unleashes the darkness of faerie into England.

In contrast, Jonathan Strange, a countryman who comes from wealth but has very little drive to do anything but enjoy cards and a stiff drink, is thrust into magic after a vagabond tells him he is destined to restore magic to England. With that one encounter, Strange suddenly finds his passion and quickly begins teaching himself the art of magic (albeit without any books to guide him, thanks to Mr. Norrell). Snarky, charismatic, and ultimately, lovable, Strange is a stark contrast to the awkward, stubborn, Mr. Norrell. He joins Mr. Norrell as his apprentice but quickly outpaces his master, preferring practical magic to his master’s love of theory. The disintegration of the apprenticeship begins years of battle between England’s only two magicians and distracts them from the obvious: magic has returned and it is not easily controlled.

Clarke carefully paints a picture of her protagonists before the plot, and the characters, begin to unravel, falling into a magic-induced madness that the reader cannot help but succumb to. Strange is sent to the continent, fighting the French with his own brand of magic, while Mr. Norrell remains a magical figurehead in London, publishing terribly dull newspapers and books on the theories of magic.

One of many things that I appreciated about this novel, was how Clarke wove together the main protagonists’ stories with that of the world they were so significantly influencing. Lady Pole, her butler, Mr. Norrell’s manservant, and the magic-wielding vagabond’s stories are told between those of our protagonists: set as asides that reveal just how impactful the introduction of magic is for those in all classes. Similarly, the “man with the thistle-down hair”, the powerful faerie who helped to resurrect Lady Pole at Mr. Norrell’s beckoning, has his own storyline, entrapping victims in the sadistic world of faerie and plotting the downfall of Mr. Norrell and Strange.

Throughout the novel, the shadow of the Raven King reminds readers of an English past laden with magical power and savagery, one that Mr. Norrell would like to have nothing to do with. The Raven King, the mystical ruler who reminded me of the myth of King Arthur, disappeared long ago, taking with him the practical use of magic. But what happens when Mr. Norrell and Strange fully bring magic back to England and call to the Raven King for help? Let’s just say faerie and England collide with a violence and darkness that would’ve made Jane Austen faint.

As author Susanne Clarke’s debut novel, JSMN is beautifully written, complex, and smart. She is a craftsman at weaving multiple storylines together and mirrors the pace of the book with the deterioration of the boundaries between the fanciful and reality. This was the BEST book I read all year, and I’ve read a lot of good ones.

The BBC mini-series remained true to the book and was stunningly styled and performed. It is now out on DVD. Actors Bertie Carvel as Jonathan Strange, and Eddie Marsan as Mr. Norrell, bring these two characters to life brilliantly, revealing their complexity and arrogance.

I eagerly await Clarke’s follow-up novel (rumored to follow the vagabond and Mr. Norrell’s manservant, who navigate a new England filled with magic). I cannot wait and wish that I had a publication date to share with you. In the meantime, read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and dream about what this magic would look like once it finally crossed the pond…

May your world always be filled with magic,
Shan

P.S. If you’re like me, you love listening to music while you read. Luckily, I started reading JNMS right when one of my favorite summer songs was released and it just happens to be from the sassy U.K.-based group, Little Mix, and it is all about love and…who would’ve thought, MAGIC! A great addition to your reading playlist:

“Black Magic” by Little Mix