We’ve done it!

Thanks to Chris’s hard work (and a bit of my own), and to all the guest bloggers, readers, commenters and other participants, we’ve reached the end of another Witch Week. Over at Calmgrove, Chris provides a wrap-up for #WitchWeek2023, including an announcement of next year’s theme, one that should get everyone excited for next year’s event.

But before you go: one last spotlighted book, Philip Pullman’s 1982 orphans-in-jeopardy romp, Count Karlstein. The villain is dastardly, the heroines quirky and brave despite their fears, and the six narrators hand off the story to each other as niftily as runners pass the baton in a relay race.

Orphaned Lucy and Charlotte live with their wealthy great-uncle, Count Karlstein who, along with a household full of creepy (and drippy — quite literally) servants, barely tolerates their presence. Karlstein is rapacious and sneaky, even described by one of the narrators as “a lean, wolfish, twitchy sort of individual, with a gnawing look about him” (exactly as I picture Shakespeare’s Cassius, with his “lean and hungry look”, which I’m certain Pullman had in mind as he wrote those lines).

All Soul’s Eve approaches, and the Count must fulfill a bargain made, a decade earlier, with the Demon Huntsman (Zamiel in this tale west in the Swiss Alps, but you might know him better as Herne the Hunter). Zamiel expects the Count to complete his part of the bargain by providing the Huntsman with human prey. The Count, of course, plans to hand over the two girls living with him.

Oh dear! What can they do?

Imagine a plot inspired in equal parts by Charles Dickens and Joan Aiken, and you’ll end up with something like this tale. Pullman is clearly having fun here, drawing on familiar tropes (lost heir, wise governess, shooting contest, and girl-in-the-tower, to mention just a few) but keeping it all fresh and funny — with the con-man Doctor Cadaverezzi taking first prizes in cleverest name, most outlandish costume and most complicated tool.

Once more, and for the last time this year, I’m sending you along to Calmgrove, to allow him the final word. And once you’ve seen the theme for #WitchWeek2024, you’ll understand my choice for today’s book spotlight.

Happy fall, and happy reading, to everyone!