Susanna Clarke

“Mr. Segundus began to suspect that they had an uneventful morning, and that when a strange gentleman had walked into the room…

— Susanna Clarke

“Saints, such as me, ought always to listen attentively to the prayers of poor, dirty, ragged men, such as you. No matter…

— Susanna Clarke

“And such a pinched-looking ruin of a thing now! I shall advice all the good-looking woman of my acquaintance not to die.”

— Susanna Clarke

“It was difficult to image quite where this gentleman [a statue] could have come from: he was a little too cheerful for…

— Susanna Clarke

“Above all remember this: that magic belongs as much to the heart as to the head and everything which is done, should…

— Susanna Clarke

“There was a tall, sensible man in the room called Thorpe, a gentleman with very little magical learning, but a degree of…

— Susanna Clarke

It is these black clothes," said Strange. "I am like a leftover piece of funeral, condemned to walk about the Town, frightening…

— Susanna Clarke

“He was so clean and healthy and pleased about everything that he positively shone – which is only to be expected in…

— Susanna Clarke

“A patrol had been sent out to look at the road between two towns, but some Portuguese had come along and told…

— Susanna Clarke

“May I ask you something?" Dr Greysteel nodded."Are you not afraid that it will go out?" "What will go out?" asked Dr…

— Susanna Clarke

“Sir Walter took this to mean he had not –which Sir Walter was glad of, for Sir Walter thought a great deal…

— Susanna Clarke

“Still the strange ships glittered and shone, and this led to some discussion as to what they might be made of. The…

— Susanna Clarke

“It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take notice of…

— Susanna Clarke

“It is impossible to say how many dinners Drawlight was invited to sit down to that day - and it is fortunate…

— Susanna Clarke

“She did not rise at their entrance, nor make any sign that she had noticed them at all. But perhaps she did…

— Susanna Clarke

Yet it is true—skin can mean a great deal. Mine means that any man may strike me in a public place and…

— Susanna Clarke

“In short they felt that they should like to have the pleasure of looking at Lady Pole again, and so they told…

— Susanna Clarke

“Stephen began to dream again. This time he dreamt that hills walked and the sky wept. Trees came and spoke to him…

— Susanna Clarke

“Nothing was more characteristic of Sir Walter Pole than Surprize. His eyes grew large, his eyebrows rose half an inch upon his…

— Susanna Clarke

“Even the Raven King - who was not a fairy, but an Englishman - had a somewhat regrettable habit of abducting men…

— Susanna Clarke

“Besides,” said Mr Norrell, “I really have no desire to write reviews of other people's books. Modern publications upon magic are the…

— Susanna Clarke

When he awoke it was dawn. Or something like dawn. The light was watery, dim and incomparably sad. Vast, grey, gloomy hills…

— Susanna Clarke

“He was sick of the noise and sight of so many people and determined to go quietly away, but it so happened…

— Susanna Clarke

“In the moonlight David saw that Thoresby had become very peculiar indeed. Figs nestled among the leaves of beech-trees. Elder-trees were bowed…

— Susanna Clarke

“I have been most industriously talking up your extraordinary powers to all my wide acquaintance,' continued Mr Drawlight. 'I have been your…

— Susanna Clarke

I have a scholar's love of silence and solitude. To sit and pass hour after hour in idle chatter with a roomful…

— Susanna Clarke

Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every…

— Susanna Clarke

This is a very grave matter, punishable by...well, I do not exactly know what, but something rather severe, I should imagine.

— Susanna Clarke

“What nobility of feeling!” he cried. “To sacrifice your own pleasure to preserve the comfort of others! Well, it is a thing,…

— Susanna Clarke

“The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to…

— Susanna Clarke

“Both had indulged in, if not Black Magic, then certainly magic of a darker hue than seemed desirable or legitimate.”

— Susanna Clarke

“One day," he said,"I shall find the right spell and banish the Darkness And on that day I will come to you.”

— Susanna Clarke

“My father believed that, in understanding and in knowledge of right and wrong and in many other things, women are men’s equals…

— Susanna Clarke

He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to…

— Susanna Clarke

For, though the room was silent, the silence of half a hundred cats is a peculiar thing, like fifty individual silences all…

— Susanna Clarke

“All these details took but a moment to apprehend yet the impression made upon Mr. Segundus by the two ladies was unusually…

— Susanna Clarke

“Had it not been for Mr. Drawlight and Mr. Lascelles (benevolent souls!) the Town would have been starved of information of any…

— Susanna Clarke

“Woods were ringed with a colour so soft, so subtle that it could scarcely be said to be a colour at all.…

— Susanna Clarke

“Ha!" he thought. “That will teach me to meddle with magic meant for kings! Norrell is right. Some magic is not meant…

— Susanna Clarke

Such nonsense!" declared Dr Greysteel. "Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful!" "Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner," said…

— Susanna Clarke