It’s about finding love and acceptance, and not being afraid to look for the magic in small moments. Howl’s Moving Castle brings up issues of creating family for yourself and seeing people for who they truly are, despite the masks they put up to keep others at a distance. But can she keep Howl from being taken by the Witch of the Waste? And can she break a magical spell that binds Calcifer to Howl, so the spell on her can be broken as well?
Gradually, as she gets to know them, they become like a second family to her. As Sophie makes herself useful and becomes a part of the castle life, she begins to learn more and more about Howl, Calcifer and Michael. She finds Howl’s assistant Michael, and his fire demon, Calcifer, but Howl is not in. With thoughts of finding a warm fireside and a comfy chair, Sophie goes into the castle. Although Sophie is afraid of Howl because she heard he eats young girls’ souls, in the guise of an old woman she thinks she will be safe. The castle is enchanted it moves and blows puffs of smoke constantly. When her old bones become tired at the end of her first day of wandering, she finds herself at the edge of the wizard Howl’s castle. But when the Witch of the Waste comes into her shop one day and casts a spell on Sophie, making her appear old, she decides to set off into the wider world where she knows no one. So when times get tough for her family she is content to stay home and work in the family hat shop while her two younger sisters go off to bright futures working in a bakery and learning magic. Sophie is sure that her life is meant to come to nothing, because where she lives the eldest child is always ill-fated.
Some of had seen the movie before, but reading the book gave us a whole new idea of what Howl’s world was like. We had a great discussion when we got together with everyone from our group. We had not read a fantasy tale for a few years, and it was fun to set off into another world for a change. Catherine and I recently finished Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones for our mother-daughter book club.
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