"Narrating in a wry, amused offstage voice, Clarke effortlessly conjures the faraway world
of Regency England, where performing magic made one the life of the party, a man about town.
   At the center of this status-obsessed society is a curmudgeonly scholar and book-hoarder named Gilbert Norell. He gets mouths flapping when, in an effort to restore respect to the lost art of true magic--which has been reduced to sleight of hand parlor tricks--he casts a spell causing a church's gargoyles to cry out and dance."
                                                                                                                     --John Freeman

It goes on, but has anyone here heard of it? Has anyone read it? What did you think?