Enchanted Castle - Hardcover

Nesbit, Edith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0460050273 ISBN 13: 9780460050272

Publisher: J M Dent & Sons Ltd, 1954

Synopsis

The Enchanted Castle is a children's fantasy novel by Edith Nesbit first published in 1907.The enchanted castle of the title is a country estate in the West Country seen through the eyes of three children, Gerald, James and Kathleen, who discover it while exploring during the school holidays. The lake, groves and marble statues, with white towers and turrets in the distance, make a fairy-tale setting, and then in the middle of the maze in the rose garden they find a sleeping fairy-tale princess. The "princess" tells them that the castle is full of magic, and they almost believe her. She shows them the treasures of the castle, including a magic ring she says is a ring of invisibility, but when it actually turns her invisible she panics and admits that she is the housekeeper's niece, Mabel, and was just play-acting. The children soon discover that the ring has other magical powers. The Enchanted Castle was written for both children and adults. It combines descriptions of the imaginative play of children, reminiscent of The Story of the Treasure Seekers, with a magic more muted than in her major fantasies such as The Story of the Amulet.

About this title

Review

A plot summary makes this story sound ordinary by children's literature standards: the summer adventures of four children who discover an enchanted castle and a magic ring. But Edith Nesbit's adored classic (written in 1907) is so much more than the description suggests. Right from the start, the author plays with the idea of magic, teasing us with a sleeping princess who turns out to be a fake. Elsewhere, the magic is "real" as can be--in fact, though written nearly 100 years ago, The Enchanted Castle prefigures the magical realism of modern novels in the matter-of-fact way it weaves the uncanny into the children's everyday life. And, while few authors are confident enough to parody bad writing, Nesbit does it hilariously (and ever so gently) through one character's tendency to "talk like a book": "'To brush his hair and his clothes... was to our hero but the work of a moment,' said Gerald." Things turn scary when the Ugly Wuglies, fake people made from painted cardboard masks, old clothes, and broomsticks, come to life. But on the whole this book about enchantment--much praised by such luminaries as H.G. Wells and Noel Coward--is, simply, enchanting. (Ages 6 and older) --Richard Farr

About the Author

Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was the author of a number of much-loved stories in which ordinary children encounter magical adventures in the everyday world. Her novels include the three-book series Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet. Her other books include The Enchanted Castle, which is also available from Books of Wonder/Morrow in a handsome gift editionfeaturingPaul o. Zelensky's paintings..

Edition details

• Publisher: J M Dent & Sons Ltd
• Publication date: 1954
• ISBN 10: 0460050273
• ISBN 13: 9780460050272
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 165