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Mood: Happy ]
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Currently: Listening to CBC Radio One ]
Sophie is the eldest of three daughters of a millner. As the oldest daughter, she knows that nothing remarkable will ever happen to her as it is always the youngest of three sisters who has great things ahead.
Resigned to an ordinary life, Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Wastes. Turned into an old woman, Sophie runs, well hobbles, away. She takes refuge in a castle that is moving across the landscape.
The castle belongs to the Howl, a powerful wizard who supposedly eats young women. Howl allows her to stay on as a cleaning woman. Avtually, he just ignores Sophie, who decides to stay.
I know I am late coming to this party as the book was published in 1986 and also has a Hayao Miyazaki filmed adaptation, which was in turn nominated for an Academy Award.
This is a WOW!! book. Funny, poking fun at the conventions of fairy tales, it also manages to be an exciting tale that unrolls at breakneak speed, with interweaving plots and characters.
Worth the time and effort and will be in the next "What to Read After Harry".