Customer Reviews

Twilight of Magic

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23 years ago, aged 11, I walked into a library in the tiny town of Pietersburg, South Africa and booked out an unknown title by Hugh Lofting called The Twilight of Magic. Little did I know then that this story would leave such an indelible mark on my childhood giving me a sense of unabating awe and wonderment. Set in Medieval history, the story chronicles the childhood search of brother and sister, Giles and Anne for proof of magic . It is a time in history when the boundaries between infant science and the supernatural are blurred and it is here that Giles and Anne meet Agnes the Applewoman and her Whispering Shell.

Agnes is a witch - or is she? The Whispering Shell is magic - or is it? These are the questions which follow brother and sister through a series of adventures with philosophers, ghosts , black cats and Kings. Beyond, into adulthood they go with Agnes and The Whispering Shell weaving in and out of their lives,constantly leaving them to ponder if magic or science hold the answers. Ultimately however we are left with more questions than answers and it is this very approach which sets The Twilight of Magic apart from many other children's books of its day. There are no easy answers in life and we may always be questing to differentiate the boundaries between fantasy and reality, fact and fiction; science and magic. The message that Hugh Lofting imparts with this unique story however is: there is no difference. Magic is to be found all around us, as with Giles and Anne: Giles in love; watching a setting sun over the sea; the mysteries of a Whispering Shell.

This is The Twilight of Magic and the Dawn of Science where the enigma of science and the mystery of magic have become one and the same.