. for anyone who might not know the origin of my diana wynne jones obsession - i picked up the
. for anyone who might not know the origin of my diana wynne jones obsession - i picked up the chronicles of chrestomanci vol 1 in a tiny canon beach bookshop when i was 11 ish simply bc it had a cat on the cover and it was a fantasy story. i read the entire thing in a day, and from then on made it my mission to check every bookstore i ever went into just in case they might have DWJ novels (i almost have a complete collection - im missing a sudden wild magic). my favorites change depending on what i need at the time, but Charmed Life remains special simply because it was the first. Quiet, shy, anxious and terrified Cat’s story was so much about a child getting themselves out of an abusive situation and discovering their own power despite the ineptitude and disinterest of the adult world around them. it was the perfect escape for a kid whose parents held screaming matches whenever they had to spend any time together (i say that as if the screaming wasnt 90% my mother)(after she left us my mom had no one to scream at anymore so she switched to me) (which was why dad got sole custody of me after a very kind therapist informed me that at age 14 i could emancipate myself and finally escape the hell that was my mother). anyway, its hard to find DWJ novels now, most of the 90s editions are out of print and very rarely do they end up in used bookstores. but here in this little burbank bookshop i found a 1977 ORIGINAL pocketbooks edition of charmed life and it feels like just a tiny bit of DWJ magic ;_;also alice, because of course -- source link
#journal shit