Spinster aunt, Lolly Willowes, is forever obliged and obliging until, much to her family’s disapproval, the day she announces her intention to move to the village of Great Mop in the Chilterns. There she meets the huntsman-gardener-Devil and finds her true vocation as a witch. Townsend Warner's descriptions of nature, the dark woods and the rolling hills, are spellbinding. She writes with gentle wit and scathing commentary on women's lot. Themes of gender roles and social convention.

You know that moment whilst reading a book where you suddenly realise that you are deeply besotted with it.  This happened to me today about 50 pages into 'Lolly Willowes' and stayed with me all the way to the end. Laura 'Lolly' Willowes is, at the beginning of the book, a young woman living a quiet and introverted life in the family home with her much loved father.  His death sends her to London to live with her brother's family where she slowly loses her identity to the new benign persona of 'Aunt Lolly' finding an expression of herself only in the luxurious flowers with which she decorates her room until in middle age she decides on the spur of the moment to move to the small Chiltern village of Great Mop and become a witch. Warner's first novel is a fantastic and fantastical exploration of the lot of a young unmarried woman in the early decades of the 20th century.  As the century unfolds we slowly see Laura take increasing control of her life and break free from patriarchal, familial and social restraints as the novel does the same and becomes as much a meditation on religion and the very nature of Satan as it is on the lot of women and it is glorious. Beautifully written, delicately paced and deliciously insightful. I adored this book.

A beautifully written book. I loved the way the author wrote about nature and animals. The kicking against traditional roles for women were beautifully handled as well. If you enjoy feminist literature, I would highly recommend this book.

A very odd book. Interesting, but distinctly strange. I kept wondering if I was missing something really obvious ... and was she REALLY a witch? Struggled to grasp the satirical point, my own failings no doubt rather than Sylvia Townsend Warner's ... but disappointed that the witch aspects only occurred in the final 50 pages. Liked Great Mop. And Vinegar.

Received this book today but will have to swap it for on where the font is not so squashed. It's about time Waterstones ( as some companies do) state the font style & size of each book being advertised. This is the 3nd time I've had to do this. Petty? Maybe , but I paid for it after all.