"House of Many Ways" by Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow Books, ISBN
9780061477959, $17.99, ages 8-14ish)
Charmain Baker's mother has brought her up to be "respectable": that means
no housework, no pets, and especially no vulgar magic. As for Charmain, her
only ambition is to talk her way into the King of High Norland's famous
library. When her imperious Aunt Sempronia volunteers Charmain to look after
her Great-Uncle William's house while he's ill, Charmain sees it as the
chance she's been waiting for. Except Great-Uncle William is a wizard, off
being cured by elves, and taking care of his house proves daunting: Bags of
laundry multiply overnight. There are stacks of dirty dishes but no taps on
the sink. And depending on whether you turn left or right on your way
through the kitchen door, you end up in a completely different wing. After a
run-in with a threatening lubbock—a seven-foot-tall purple insect with a
penchant for laying its eggs in doomed human hosts—Charmain realizes her
nice, safe upbringing is useless in the real, magical world.
Soon, Charmain is dealing with angry kobold gardeners, William's hapless
apprentice, a disheveled little dog named Waif with mysterious powers and an
insatiable appetite, and the plight of poor King Adolphus, searching
centuries of books and papers for a clue to where his missing gold is
hidden—and where the taxes keep disappearing to. Along the way, she leaves
respectability far behind, but finds out a few spells come in handy.
This is the third book in the series which began with "Howl's Moving Castle"
in 1986 (adapted into a movie in 2004 by anime genius Hayao Miyazaki); the
wizard Howl (disguised as a hilariously saccharine moppet named Twinkle)
appears here, too, along with his wife, Sophie, their son, Morgan, and
Calcifer the fire demon. "House of Many Ways" is a first-rate work of
fantasy, mixing humor and danger—the lubbock is downright chilling—and a
plot as complicated as Great-Uncle William's house that runs full tilt to a
satisfying conclusion without feeling pat. And in a twist on the traditional
bookish heroine—who usually saves the day with just her smarts—Charmain must
first learn the practical business of looking after herself and other
people: a gentle nudge for the young reader to get off the couch sometimes
and help with the laundry.
Review by Anna
Perleberg, July 3, 2008
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