Charmed Life

Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones – 1977


Charmed Life is a story not unlike a cat; playful and cute, until the claws come out. In discussing the genius of Diana Wynne Jones one encounters the same problem as when discussing Terry Pratchett; all the cleverness and craft that form the basis for their books are camouflaged by being written with such matter-of-fact elegance. In short; they make it look easy.

In this novel, written for children, we find ourselves in a quasi-Edwardian world where America is known as Atlantis, the French won Waterloo, and most importantly, magic is seen as simply another profession, such as the law or medicine, if one displays sufficient talent. After the deaths of their parents, Eric (Cat) Chant and his older sister Gwendoline go to live with Mrs Sharp their downstairs neighbour who is an affectionate, if deeply unscrupulous, Certified Witch. Though the meek and timid Cat clearly has no magical ability whatsoever, the haughty Gwendoline soon proves herself an exceptionally powerful sorceress. Dissatisfied with living with Mrs Sharp and discovering a connection to the renowned Chrestomanci, Gwendoline writes to him and the great man adopts them both, and brings them to live at Chrestomanci Castle. Sparks fly, however, as he refuses to acknowledge anything remarkable about the girl, and her actions become more outrageous by the day in an attempt to provoke a reaction. Finally, she disappears entirely, leaving Janet, a bewildered stranger from another world who looks identical to Gwendoline, for Cat to find in her place. And the trouble is only just beginning…

If this vague summary sounds intriguing to you, or if Charmed Life is sitting nicely on your to-read list, then stop now, get a copy, read it, and come back. Normally, I wouldn't bother with what is essentially a spoilers warning like this, but this is Diana Wynne Jones: the surprises in Charmed Life really will take you by surprise, and it's far better to experience them, without my having spoiled it for you. So, go on… shift! 

Jones' greatest skill in writing Charmed Life is her deft balancing of uncanny atmosphere and twisting plot; indeed the sheer darkness of Charmed Life is hardly apparent initially as Jones continually shifts the tone between whimsical and eerie, particularly once the children enter Chrestomanci Castle. Once there, Gwendoline's furious pranks and attacks are initially riotous, and as readers we revel in the spirited rebellion against the supercilious Chrestomanci and his luxurious, stifling household. The conflict escalates, however, and soon Gwendoline summons a creature 'weak, white and lonesome. It was draggled and slimy'1 outside the window, and when this horrifying apparition still provokes no response, Gwendoline uses an entire army of enlarged beetles and insects, as well as more of the ghastly white creatures, to interrupt an important dinner party. Though this scene is viscerally unpleasant, it is the events that follow which provide the first major curve-ball of the book. The beetles finally provoke a reaction from Chrestomanci and Gwendoline is punished, and just as we expect there will now be some important character development, Jones subverts our expectations and Gwendoline vanishes, leaving the terrified Janet in her place. This, in turn eventually leads to the major revelation; that Eric is a nine-lived sorcerer, and Gwendoline has merely been syphoning off his power while letting him believe he has no magic whatsoever. And finally we realise that the horrible white apparitions are in fact Eric's own lost lives, one of which at least, Gwendoline is responsible for him losing...


Making Gwendoline the villain, and happy to kill her brother altogether if necessary, is one of Jones' masterstrokes, and it is from here, rather than the ghoulish creatures and sometimes sinister feel of the castle, that the real darkness of the book arises. When we first meet Gwendoline as an arrogant, conceited girl, we assume that, in a children's book, these are traits that she will learn to grow out of, and that her affection for Cat will outweigh her power-hungry nature. To subvert this is a gloriously unsentimental choice of Jones', one that it seems unlikely would be made by a children's author today, certainly not without deep psychoanalysis of the character or considerable angst. The book gains its consdierable darkness from Gwendoline simply being a selfish and despicable person. A similar revelation is that all of the eccentric, entertaining villagers that Cat grew up around fully embrace their suspicion and hatred of Chrestomanci and are acting alongside Gwendoline, and are therefore willing to be complicit in the murder of Cat to achieve their goal. Looking very deeply at it from today's perspective, and given that Jones grew up in war-time, the idea of all the slightly eccentric figures from the town you grew up in suddenly being the villains and expressing views that are dangerous and ignorant, is a wonderfully sinister one, which is perhaps particularity resonant now. Indeed, in the townsfolk's dismissal of Chrestomanci and what he does, there is almost a faint whiff of being fed up of listening to the experts…


Balancing out the darkness of the book are some wonderful characters. Cat himself is almost unbearably wet at times, partly due to his own timid nature but also because of his emotional dependency on Gwendoline, but once she vanishes he gradually begins to develop. Janet and Gwendoline, so physically alike and emotionally different, both bring fire and energy into Cat's life, and are hugely entertaining characters in their own right, but also demonstrate the difference between a largely positive force and largely negative one in someone's life. Chrestomanci comes from the Sherlockian school of aloof-genius-heroes, often appearing in magnificent dressing gowns, but is most interesting in his relaxed and unguarded moments. The various figures of his household are a delight, particularly his wife Millie and the contrast we see in her between how she appears on the surface, and what she is capable of. Elsewhere, the Nostrum bothers make excellent secondary villains, and Mrs Sharp is another extraordinarily complex character for a children's book; the scene where Cat sees her again after missing her so badly, is deeply poignant as he begins to realise, despite her obvious genuine fondness for them, how unscrupulous and self-serving she really is.


Charmed Life is a novel of dazzling unpredictability and wonderful lack of sentimentality. Neil Gaiman, a life-long friend and fan of Jones, stated that her 'fiction was never improving'2, meaning that there was no moral or lesson to be learned from it. Unlike either the Narnia or Harry Potter series there is no message here, not even a predictable one of good and evil, it is simply a story, an enjoyable and unsettling story, and as such is a wonderful children's book. It is, in a word, enchanting.



Link to HarperCollins, where the book is available: https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007255290/charmed-life

1Jones, Diana Wynne. Charmed Life, Harper Collins 2000. pp. 77




2Gaiman, Neil. Reflections: On Diana Wynne Jones in The View from the Cheap Seats, Headline Publishing Group, 2016 pp. 104