Author(s): Sylvia Townsend Warner

Classics | Marianne's Book Talkers

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics- irresistible, mini editions of short works by the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Lolly Willowes, so gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family- witchcraft.

CONSTANT READER STAFF REVIEW: MARIANNE

Lolly Willowes is one of my all-time favourite novels, so I’m delighted to see this underrated classic from 1926 be released in a beautiful edition by superstar book designer Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Lolly Willowes isn’t your average unmarried woman of a certain age, although her overbearing family rather wishes she were. Instead of staying in London to provide a lifetime of free babysitting to her terrible relatives, Lolly decides on a solo move to the countryside.

Once there, she tangles with the age-old feminist question:  why would any self-respecting spinster settle for the role of put-upon maiden aunt, when she could sign her name in the Devil’s book and live a free life, as a witch? Warner’s dry wit will produce cackles of unabashed laughter as well as cackles of unabashed wickedness, and perhaps Lolly’s quest for liberation might inspire you to some subversions of your own…