Charmed Life (novel)

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Charmed Life

Cover of Charmed Life
Author	Diana Wynne Jones
Country	Great Britain
Language	English
Series	The Chrestomanci Series
Genre(s)	Fantasy, Childrens' Literature
Publisher	Various
Released	1977
Media Type	Print

Charmed Life is a 1977 novel by British children's author Diana Wynne Jones.

It is the first in the Chrestomanci series of novels, so named because their plots, some to greater degrees than others, involve a series of powerful nine-lived enchanters who carry the title Chrestomanci. Carriers of the title are essentially government administrators who supervise the use of magic on Earth.

[edit] Plot

Charmed Life opens with the orphaned Eric and Gwendolen Chant, a brother and sister, being summoned to Chrestomanci castle after Gwendolen writes a letter to the Chrestomanci, presumably begging him to take them in. Gwendolen is something of a magical virtuoso, spoiled by neighbors (and her parents when they were alive), but her brother Eric (nicknamed Cat) is rather a slouch in that department, prefering to play the violin (at which he is also lamentably mediocre). Upon arriving at the castle, which is maintained by the suave and charming but always authoritative Chrestomanci, they are taught by a private tutor in a small class with Chrestomanci's two children Julia and Roger. Unfortunately, Julia and Gwendolen immediately butt heads, and Cat appears to have no magical skill at all. Gwendolen is also furious that she is expected to start her magical training at an elementary level again. She takes out her anger on Chrestomanci in increasingly complex ways, eventually leading to the removal of her magic powers. But the next morning, Gwendolen is gone, leaving a clueless lookalike named Janet in her place.

[edit] Characters

The character of Christopher Chant (the Chrestomanci in this novel) appears as a young boy in The Lives of Christopher Chant and as a teenager in Conrad's Fate.

Eric "Cat" Chant: Cat is the protagonist of the series. He is a kind boy, but he follows a bit more than he should. His sister, Gwendolen, technically rules him. Although he had been quite terrible at the violin, he had loved it. Cat has a car-sickness; every time he enters a car, he always ends up feeling a bit sick afterward. He has three lives remaining: he had lost his first life when he was born as a baby, his second when he drowned in the flood that had killed his parents, the third when Gwendolen had put his lives into a box of matches, the next when Gwendolen had taken his life and turned his fiddle into a cat (also named Fiddle), the fifth when he burned one, and the sixth when Gwendolen had taken one of his lives to take her into her new world where she reigned as queen. The matchbox is his main weakness. Cat is training to be the next Chrestomanci.

Gwendolen Chant: She is the main antagonist of the series. She is a witch, although it is possible she did not have any witchcraft in the first place. Gwendolen had borrowed magic all her life from Cat. She likes to play "pranks" on people. Although she was very motherly to Cat in the past, she became rather nasty and bossy to him as the story progressed. During the flood, she survived because she was a witch, and witches could not drown. Cat had believed he had survived the flood by holding on to Gwendolen. She was one of the most gifted witches in their neighborhood. She contained a mix between admiration and hatred of Chrestomanci, partly because he had such powerful magic, and partly because he had supposedly not recognized her prowess.

Janet Chant: Janet is the other world equivalent of Gwendolen. She had lived in a nice, ordinary home in a world similar to ours. Everything that had happened in her world was the opposite of what had happened in Cat's world. For example, if there was a war between the French and the Spanish, if the French had won in Cat's world, the Spanish would have won in Janet's world. While Gwendolen was bossy and bold, Janet was quite shy and jolly. No one was to know that Gwendolen had spirited away to another world, so Cat and Janet had to pretend Janet was Gwendolen. When they were trying to keep it a secret, it is later revealed that Chrestomanci had known about it all along. She later decides to stay in Cat's world and becomes Chrestomanci's ward.

Julia Chant: Julia is one of Chrestomanci's two children. She is quite fat, and is normally quite nice, but can get mean. Julia's magic seems to center on a handkerchief. When Gwendolen had played a trick on her, Julia countered the attack by tying a knot in her handkerchief. However, her magic is lesser to Cat's. She had turned Janet (thinking she was Gwendolen)'s food into bugs, but when Cat traded bowls with Janet, the bugs changed back to food, resulting in a very confused Cat and an infuriated Julia.

Roger Chant: Roger is Julia's brother and the other child of Chrestomanci. He seems to be laid back and not as hot-tempered as his sister. Roger is more inclined to cooperate with Cat and to entertain him. He likes to play toy soldiers with Cat, but Cat's soldiers kept on running away.

Books by Diana Wynne Jones

Chrestomanci series: Charmed Life • The Lives of Christopher Chant • The Magicians of Caprona • Witch Week • Conrad's Fate • The Pinhoe Egg • Mixed Magics Dalemark Quartet: Cart and Cwidder • Drowned Ammet • The Spellcoats • The Crown of Dalemark Castle series: Howl's Moving Castle • Castle in the Air Derkholm series: Dark Lord of Derkholm • Year of the Griffin Magids series: Deep Secret • The Merlin Conspiracy Other: Archer's Goon • Dogsbody • Eight Days of Luke • Fire and Hemlock • Hexwood • The Homeward Bounders • Power of Three • A Tale of Time City • The Time of the Ghost • More...