DWJ Reread: Charmed Life

Dec 14, 2014 17:35



I’m pretty sure that Charmed Life was my first book by Diana Wynne Jones, although I’m never sure when was it that I first read it. Some of my older posts seem to suggest that I read it pre-Potter; others state that it’s post-Potter. I suppose it doesn’t matter that much? Except that I would much rather believe that it’s post-Potter so that I can excuse my obsession with the series back then. The more I reread Diana, the more I wonder what I ever saw in the Harry Potter books. (Not that they weren’t fun or anything, because I do remember liking them a LOT! It’s just that I can hardly bear to reread the HP books now, and the way abuse/neglect is addressed in them bugs me so much.) Aaand I’m going off-topic so early on, aren’t I.

Charmed Life is the first of the Chrestomanci books, and it’s about Cat and his sister Gwendolen, who became orphans after their parents died in a boating accident. Gwendolen is a promising witch on her way to great things - she’s convinced that one day, she’ll rule the world. The pair lives with Mrs. Sharp, a witch interested in nurturing Gwendolen’s powers, but soon Gwendolen’s ambitions lead them to Chrestomanci Castle.


No one seems to acknowledge Gwendolen’s powers, though - and to Cat’s consternation, he’s been signed up to magic lessons despite having no magical ability. In retaliation to being ignored, Gwendolen comes up with increasingly horrid pranks, all the while scheming against Chrestomanci. Now, while by this point of my reread I’ve noticed a lot of these unraveling/unveiling of characters the protagonists admire, and it’s always sad and relatable - but Cat learning about Gwendolen’s true nature is among the most heartbreaking, to me. I’m not sure if it’s because of how much he clings to and relies on her in the beginning, or just because I like Cat so much as a character. In any case, Gwendolen does not reciprocate Cat’s feelings in any way and when she tires of life at the Castle, she leaves the world, leaving a “Dear Replacement” in the form of Janet, a girl from our world - one without magic and a very different history. Wanting to hide what Gwendolen did, Cat had to help Janet keep up the pretense of being Gwendolen, but of course, Gwendolen has other plans, and everything goes wrong for Cat.

I think one of the things I thought when I was reading it for the first time was that for a book that claims to be part of a series called “The Worlds of Chrestomanci” there’s hardly enough Chrestomanci in it (but enough that I was eager to read The Lives of Christopher Chant when I finally got around to it!), and that the idea of the multiverse was absolutely brilliant. Of course, when I read it for the first time I had never read science fiction before and had never come across multiverse stories - but even now, I love that Diana Wynne Jones used multiverses in a fantasy.  (And the dragon! I can’t believe I’ve completely forgotten about the cuteness of the dragon!)

Also, I’m realising with this reread that while the assumption my friends (especially my friends that do not read fantasy and/or children’s books, which is sadly most of them) make about my complete and utter devotion to everything Diana Wynne Jones is “Marisa loves books about magic”, it might really possibly be “Marisa loves books about feeling betrayed/abused by adults/trusted people and also books about siblings.” Of course, I also really do love books about magic, but I don’t exactly love other fantasy books in quite the same way. But I’m still at the beginning of my reread project and have a long way to go, so maybe my opinions on this will change as I go on.

DWJ RE-READ no.09 | this book was first published in 1977
previous book: Drowned Ammet
next story: “Carruthers”

fantasy, chrestomanci chronicles, books about witches, diana wynne jones, dwj reread, magic, crossposted, harper collins, middle grade fiction

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