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The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City by Susanna Clarke
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The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City

Author
Susanna Clarke
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing
Publish Date
22 October 2026
Run Time
30 minutes
Format
Audiobook
Genre
Fantasy, Speculative fiction

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What to expect

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting and haunting short story full of medieval magic

1110 A.D. The fairy host sweeps across the North of England and the city of Durham is under siege. Wearily the Bishop of Durham, Ranulf Flambard, prepares to surrender – something which proves far more difficult than he could have imagined.

His quest will lead him through a landscape of unco-operative rivers and enchanted forests to a New Castle on the banks of the River Tyne – where, with any luck, he will be received by a court of deceptive, would-be fairy queens, shape-shifting stags and a beautiful teenage Raven King.

A long-lost chapter in the lore of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City is an enchanting and enchanted adventure into the magic of medieval England.

Praise for Susanna Clarke:
‘Spellbinding’ Dua Lipa
‘A miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling’ Madeline Miller
‘Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous’ Katherine Rundell

Critics Review

  • Praise for Susanna Clarke: 'Clarke creates a world beyond our wildest imagination that also tells us something profound about what it is to be human

    Bernardine Evaristo, Women's Prize Chair of Judges 2021

  • What a world Susanna Clarke conjures into being

    David Mitchell

  • Spellbinding

    Dua Lipa

  • A miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling

    Madeline Miller

See more reviews
  • Like Hilary Mantel, Clarke has made the very notion of genre seem quaint

    Guardian

  • One of the greatest and most interesting writers of fantasy in the past hundred years or more

    Times Literary Supplement

  • Susanna Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous

    Katherine Rundell

  • A treasure, washed up upon a forgotten shore, waiting to be discovered

    Erin Morgenstern

  • Purely joyful reading

    Naomi Alderman

  • Utterly compelling – bewildering, intense, moving, shocking, combining a haunting fantasy with sharp insight

    Rowan Williams

User Reviews

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Details
Author
Susanna Clarke
Duration
30 minutes
Release Date
22 October 2026
ISBN
9781037207662
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre
Fantasy, Speculative fiction

Synopsis

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting and haunting short story full of medieval magic1110 A.D. The fairy host sweeps across the North of England and the city of Durham is under siege. Wearily the Bishop of Durham, Ranulf Flambard, prepares to surrender – something which proves far more difficult than he could have imagined.His quest will lead him through a landscape of unco-operative rivers and enchanted forests to a New Castle on the banks of the River Tyne – where, with any luck, he will be received by a court of deceptive, would-be fairy queens, shape-shifting stags and a beautiful teenage Raven King.A long-lost chapter in the lore of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City is an enchanting and enchanted adventure into the magic of medieval England.Praise for Susanna Clarke:‘Spellbinding’ Dua Lipa‘A miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling’ Madeline Miller‘Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous’ Katherine Rundell

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