Clarke

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories (2006) by Susanna Clarke

This book is a very fine collection of stories by the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu (where three witches explain to Jonathan Strange that when he learns some magic, then he can talk to them about theirs)

On Lickerish Hill (a bizarre variation on the Rumpelstiltskin story, told in the vernacular)

Mrs Mabb (a young woman, after many trials and tribulations, rescues a young man from the clutches of a fairy queen)

The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse (set in Neil Gaiman's Stardust, this story explains why the Duke felt like a stick figure in his later life)

Mr Simonelli or The Fairy Widower (a Christian half-fairy destroys a fairy prince, but does not necessarily save himself in the process)

Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby (a Jewish physician persuades a fairy prince to better treat his female relatives)

Antickes and Frets (Mary Queen of Scots comes to a bad end despite her embroidery)

John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner (an unworthy dolt, through no skill of his own, gets the better of one of the greatest magicians who ever lived)