[This might be an irrelevant question, but why don’t the Stranges have any children? They were married for many years, around ten, I think (though Mr. Strange spent three years in the war). What kind of birth control did they have back then? Just something I find curious.]
I liked the rest of the ending. All the important characters are dealt with. I think most get what they deserve. I felt pity appropriately and was quite happy with the outcome of some of the characters, like Childermass and Stephen Black. I do wonder what happened to Lady Pole though.
The pacing of the novel made it a bit difficult to get through. I found the beginning section that just focused on Norrell immensely slow. Once Strange was introduced however, it moved quickly. Once Strange got back from the war, I was having a difficult time again. Then, the final section, with the disappearance of Mrs. Strange, it was back to quick and exciting. I think I would have liked the story better, if it were either shorter or maintained the same quick pace throughout. I think part of what made it at times difficult is the “regency” style language it was written in, as if the author was a contemporary of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens.
In the end, I mostly enjoyed the novel. Would I recommend it? Absolutely, but I think you have to be a fan of two things. The first would be Austen or Dickens (or their contemporaries), because this isn’t the language of the twentieth or twenty-first centuries. The second, you have to enjoy a little fantasy. There are magic and fairies and people brought back from the dead. This isn’t Dungeons and Dragons fantasy, but the fantasy of a “lady” or “gentleman”.
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