Lolly Willowes is an amazing book. The situation is extreme but this may just emphasise how hard it was for women to escape their conventional roles. Some very powerful expressions of this once Lolly had become free, ( )

I'm not sure what to make of this book. The writing is superb, the plot bizarre and disjointed. Ostensibly it's the tale of a respectable spinster who escapes a dull existence as a sort of live-in nanny for her kindly but suffocatingly stuffy family in London for a far more satisfying one as a firecely independent country witch. Good premise, surprising execution. I did wonder at times if the events in Great Mop were partly or all in Lolly's mind - reminiscent of James Hogg's 'Confessions of a Justified Sinner'. (Were the wasps that plagued nephew Ttitus really sent by the devil?) Other reviewers seem to think not; the devil, as he manifests to Lolly, is a real flesh and blood person. I still wonder if she didn't just ingest a few magic mushrooms whilst out and about on her rambles. Anyway, good book, good read. ( )

3337. Lolly Willowes (and) Mr. Fortune's Maggot, by Sylvia Townsend Warner (read 20 Aug. 2000) The first title of this book is listed by Amazon as one of the ten best books of the 1920s. I had never heard of it, but noted it at the library so I read it. Lolly Willowes was the first selection of the Book of the Month Club, back in 1926. Lolly Willowes starts felicitously enuf, describing a Barbara Pym-like character, but then it degenerates into fantasy and witches and I did not "get it" and the story was a bust as far as I was concerned. Mr. Fortune's Maggot is also a deservedly forgotten story. ( )

These two novels are small gems, well worth being republished by NYRB, and worth reading now. Townsend Warner's prose is clear and concise and fits her subject matter perfectly. I admire both of these novel immensely; and, although there are some vague similarities of theme, they are strikingly different. ( )