she does not know how to use hot water to make tea), and has little interest in anything but reading books. She grew up in a 'respectable' family environment to be 'respectable' as a result, she does not know how to do much besides reading (e.g. Main characters Charmain Baker She is a thin-faced, ginger-haired girl in her mid-teens who is also known as 'Miss Charming', most likely due to the similarity to her name. She is soon involved in curing the kingdom of its ills and rediscovering the long-lost mystical Elfgift. One of the messes Twinkle gets Charmain into results in Twinkle climbing onto the roof of the Royal Mansion. When Charmain is caught up in an intense royal search to remedy the kingdom's financial troubles, she encounters Sophie Pendragon, her son Morgan, a beautiful child named Twinkle, and their fire demon Calcifer. In her first days in the magical house she ends up looking after a magical stray dog named Waif, encounters a horrible lubbock, has to share a roof with a confused young apprentice wizard named Peter, tries to work some spells from William's library, and deals with a clan of small blue creatures called Kobolds. The house's single door can lead to almost any place – from other rooms like the kitchen, to faraway places like the Royal Palace, and even other time periods.

Though she is supposed to clean up the mess William has left the house in, Charmain knows next to nothing about magic, and yet she seems to work it in the most unexpected way. When she suddenly ends up looking after the tiny cottage of her ill Great-Uncle William she seems happy for the adventure, but the easy task of house-sitting is complicated by the fact that Great-Uncle William is also the Royal Wizard Norland and his magical house bends space and time. She has spent her days with her nose in a book, never learning how to do even the smallest household chores. The story is set in the same world as Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air.Ĭharmain Baker has led a respectable, and relaxing sheltered life. House of Many Ways is a young adult fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones.

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones