Lolly Willowes

1926. Sylvia Townsend Warner's first novel is an enduring, subversive, and lyrical portrait of spinsterhood in post-World War I Britain. Lolly is a single woman and after her father dies, she is moved, as a matter of course, to her brother's house, where she meekly obliges to play caregiver to his children and housemaid to his wife. After 20 years of this life she moves to the rural village of Great Mop. She feels an affinity for the town, the countryside, and her new neighbors. She...
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1926. Sylvia Townsend Warner's first novel is an enduring, subversive, and lyrical portrait of spinsterhood in post-World War I Britain. Lolly is a single woman and after her father dies, she is moved, as a matter of course, to her brother's house, where she meekly obliges to play caregiver to his children and housemaid to his wife. After 20 years of this life she moves to the rural village of Great Mop. She feels an affinity for the town, the countryside, and her new neighbors. She blossoms emotionally and spiritually, and as she does so, she discovers an important secret: She is a witch, as is everybody else who lives in Great Mop. A graceful read in the tradition of women's fiction and magic realism.