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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hilary Mantel is pretty much the definition of dense— I assumed OP included that qualifier almost for that reader— but you do you[/quote]

I’m a different poster and I had deferred reading wolf hall for years because I had heard it was dense but read it on our London vacation last year and found it not at all dense.  I thought it was a very easy to read style and really brought the personalities to life.

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Funnily, I also thought of “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” as a recommendation, since it’s a whimsical “alternative” history of 19th century England, but I believe that book is the definition of “dense”— it’s written like a history textbook and is about 800 pages! (However, it’s an absolute gem of a book if you have the time and patience to put the work in.) 
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This looks amazing, and it's available via Libby.  Thank you!  (I also saw Piranesi, by the same author. Not about London but it seems absolutely creative and "out there" in what could be a really great way. Curious if anyone's read it, and if so, what did you think?)[/quote]

You’re welcome! I love swapping book recommendations. I’ve read Strange and Norrell twice now- when it first came out and then maybe a decade later. I think I enjoyed it even more the second time (I was older and more patient, which surely helped). Again, it is a TOME but it’s a masterpiece, I think.

As for “Piranesi,” I did like it. There’s not the same incredibly detailed world-building in it (though there is world-building— just a different kind of world!). It’s quite a bit shorter. So it’s a much easier read. It’s almost the opposite of Strange and Norrell— a lighter and simpler style more akin to a classic children’s fairytale. (There are allusions to the Narnia books, for instance.) Her first two books are a real study in contrasts— both fantasy but could not be more different in execution. [/quote]

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