The Ogre of Oglefort

As many of your Eva Ibbotson connoisseurs know, a book of twists and turns, and unruly characters is far the superior to a fairy tale. When the Hideous Ogre of Oglefort comes up against a hag who loves the feeling of wet feet, a young orphan who wants to be her familiar and a whole mosh-pit of other characters, including an aye-aye who was entered in the contest for Miss World, the possibilities of plot twists and evil from strange directions abound, especially in the hands of Ibbotson. In her last book, Eva Ibbotson pulls together her considerably large ares of expertise and puts it all in, creating a story that is as funny as it definitively ends her long career, sailing softly into the sunset. This is her last book, and she will not be printing any more, for sadly Eva Ibbotson has now joined the ranks of the wonderful ghosts she so often puts in her stories. Owen, 12