Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susana Clarke (Part 2)

Regarding location - Google will may say that the Hugh is closed, but it is not. We will meet inside the food court and there will be sign holders on the table with the book cover on it. For this meeting, we will be continuing our discussion from July. This time we will have completed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. In July, we had only read through the end of Volume 1. From Good Reads: The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.