Charmed Life (Mass Market Paperback)

by Diana Wynne Jones (Author) "Cat Chant admired his elder sister Gwen..." (more)
Key Phrases: old lady with mittens, dressing gong, Henry Nostrum, Miss Larkins, Miss Bessemer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Part of the series featuring debonair enchanter Chrestomanci, this comic fantasy follows two orphans, one of whom is a witch, when they are summoned to live in a castle full of necromancers. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–In this recording of Diana Wynne Jones's first novel in the Chrestomanci quartet (Morrow Avon, pap. 1998), British actor Gerard Doyle strikes just the right tone as he delivers the story of Cat Chant and his sister Gwendolen, orphaned as the result of a tragic boat accident and adopted by their relative, the mysterious sorcerer Chrestomanci. Cat begins to settle in at Chrestomanci Castle, but Gwendolen hates it. No one—least of all Chrestomanci—seems to appreciate Gwendolyn's magical powers, and after weeks of playing nasty magical practical jokes on the various inhabitants of the Castle, Gwendolyn finally leaves by going into a parallel world and replacing herself in Cat's world with a double called Janet. Cat and Janet eventually find the way to set the worlds right again, with some help from unexpected quarters. Doyle's pacing and voices are well executed and entertaining. This would be a good way to introduce a new generation of children to Diana Wynne Jones's magical fantasy, and it will encourage them to read the other novels in the Chrestomanci series.–Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, San Jose, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (May 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688155464
• ISBN-13: 978-0688155469
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #816,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #77 in

  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( W ) > Wynne-Jones, Diana

• This item is part of The Chrestomanci Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's only one word to describe this book-incredible, October 5, 1998

By A Customer

I bought this book some ten years or so ago. It was my favourite book for about five years until I leant it to a "friend" who liked it so much that she never gave it back. I'm so happy that this book is back in print because I still yearn to read it. Which goes to show just what an absolutely amazing book this is and this isn't even my favourite DWJ book. That, incidentally is Dogsbody which was also stolen. Anyway back to the review, this book has everthing for lovers of fantasy and magic alike:- parallel worlds, extra lives, spoilt megalomaniac children and of course lots and lots of magic. It is one of the Chrestomanci books and I recommend that anybody who reads and loves this book, should also try reading The Lives of Christopher Chant, Witch Week and The Magicians of Caprona by the same author. I have read the other reviews and what has struck me is that every reviewer seems to have read all of her other books, as have I. Diana Wynne-Jones has a knack of creating such warm, real characters and writes with a lot of humour. She is the kind of author who inspires such loyalty from her readers. Go on-read this book. We can't all be wrong!

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly charming, June 17, 2000

By	Jennifer Mo "ailanna" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In my opinion, Diana Wynne Jones is simply one of the best YA fantasy writers out there. She ranks right up there with Lloyd Alexander and Philip Pullman. The intelligence and creativity of her work is consistently remarkable, and Charmed Life is a wonderful example of the scope of her imagination and plots.

Charmed Life, an entry in the Chrestomanci series (which can be read in any order without any knowledge of the others--others include Witch Week, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona), is a charming British YA fantasy that far predates the Harry Potter mania. Fans of Harry Potter might like this; it has a similar enough plot--young orphaned boy with awful relatives is taken to a place where his talents can begin to expand. Young Eric, familiarly known as Cat, even slides around on magic mirrors (as opposed to magic broomsticks). However, Charmed Life is in every way superior to the Harry Potter books. For instance, the world's concept is much more profound and interesting. The world Cat inhabits is one in which magic abounds and technology is a bit backward-- not this world as we have known it at any point in time. Rather, it's a version of our world had key events been changed. (For example, a possible alternate world would be if Napoleon had succeeded in his campaigns. We would probably live in a world with a primary language of French.) Secondly, again unlike the HP books, there are no completely evil characters. Diana Wynne Jones has a talent for creating idiosyncratic, realistic people, and even those who are...less than wonderful, have their moments of niceness. And even the 'nice' people have their faults. Good doesn't always automatically win, and Cat is hardly a faultless protagonist.

Diana Wynne Jones takes common themes and imbues them with so much life and color and humor that the result-- Charmed Life (among many others) is compulsively likable. Who else could successfully mix enchanters, shrieking furniture, violin-turned-cats, maid-turned-frogs, silverware, family mysteries, alternate worlds, adventure and wit save a master magician such as Diana Wynne Jones? If you haven't read anything by her but like your fantasies good and British with dizzyingly intricate plots, do try her work. I particularly recommend Howl's Moving Castle, Hexwood, and, of course, Charmed Life. These are books that deserve to be read...and reread...and reread...

Ailanna

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic! I wish every child had a copy on their bookshelf, August 20, 1999

By A Customer

I read Charmed Life when I was in fourth or fifth grade, and immediately bought a copy of my own to read again and again. I loved all Diana Jones's books, but this one was my first and my favorite. Fifteen years later I still feel fond of Cat and resentful of his hellion sister Gwendolyn, and I still wince at the hilarious atrocities she perpetrted at Chrestomanci castle. A children's book that doesn't patronize children, but instead indulges their sophisticated sense of humor and appreciation of the travails of a bildungsroman hero is a rare treat indeed. I still keep my old copy so that some day my children can learn to love Jones's wonderful books too.