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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
Genre: Feminist Fiction / Magical Realism / Satire / Classic Literature / Witchcraft

Book Review:
Sylvia Townsend Warner’s first novel, Lolly Willowes (1926), is a delightfully subversive tale. After her father dies, the spinster Lolly Willowes spends twenty years as a self-effacing “maiden aunt” in her brothers’ London homes. At forty-eight, she finally rebels, moves to a small village, and — with the help of a cat and a pact with the Devil — discovers her true vocation: witchcraft. Warner uses magic as a metaphor for female independence, freedom from domestic drudgery, and the right to an untamed life. The novel is witty, satirical, and surprisingly moving. A precursor to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. This Virago Modern Classics edition features a cover by Vanessa Bell. A must-read for fans of feminist literature and magical realism.