Modern-day magic set in a superbly
atmospheric Canterbury just before Christmas is the theme of this
delightfully
warm-hearted book.
Joe arrives reluctantly from London, by train. He did not want to leave
his dad for the holidays but a family emergency means he must stay with
his mother and
stepfamily. The streets and shops are in a cheerful
seasonal mood, but from this ordinary world comes the extraordinary.
An enchanted tricycle leads Jo to a coven of almost totally inept, but
charmingly eccentric witches. Here Joe meets Twiggy, a young trainee
witch who is writing messages on leaves. From Twiggy, Joe learns that
covens are disappearing all over England, and the
windsprites whose
mysterious whisper gives witches their magic powers are also
mysteriously declining in numbers. It seems as though the whole witch
world in the British Isles is being slowly wiped out, and Joes wants to
help unravel the mystery. This leads him into adventures, such as
broomstick flying whilst it is snowing, visiting a market where magic is
sold, and seeing an amazing spell that makes things grow back in
action. Joe watches as a twig bursts out of wooden furniture.
Joe’s stepfamily is warm, welcoming people who do normal things: cook,
buy clothes, and visit the library. As Joe and Twiggy unearth the magical
mysteries and outwit the villain, the stepfamily knows of other events.
Joe’s father has been caught in blizzards in Scotland and has not been
heard of for days. The family keep this from him, wanting him to enjoy
all that is best things in the lead up to Christmas: pantomime, special
meals, shopping for presents, as they hope that his father will be found
before the news breaks.
However, it is Joe’s workings with magic that saves his father from the
blizzard.
The book reads as if the writer smiled as she wrote. The vocabulary is
full of gentle humour, irony and is infused with rhythm and magic: “The
Spillikins of Doom,” “Two Hoots” for a witch’s house, a flock of
windsprites flying, “The Monsters of Much Marcle.” A delightful and
generous first novel, which will enchant children – and indeed adults.