222 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 1999 by New York Review Books.
I didn't care for this almost 100-year-old novel at all. It's a slow, tedious meander through Lolly's life until she, around age 50, decides to go live in a village and then suddenly witches. I thought the book would be more enjoyable once the devil showed up but Warner sure showed me how to suck the fun out of a surprise Satan. Not a book for me, but at least it wasn't very long.
Beautifully written, slightly surreal, mature-coming-of-age story. One caveat: Alison Lurie's introduction is excellent but if you haven't read the book before I suggest holding off reading it until after you've finished the book.
Die Geschichte kommt sehr unauffällig daher, aber basically gehts um eine 47jährige Frau, die endlich aus dem ,,Tanten-Dasein" ausbrechen will und aus der Stadt wegzieht aufs Land und nachts streift sie durch die Wälder und plötzlich ist Satan in ihrem Leben und sie ist eine Hexe und wird ihren besuchenden Neffen los, den sie zwar sehr liebt, aber LOSHABEN WILL. Der Anfang war etwas zäh, aber der Rest SO GUT.
4.5 for prose and the depiction of a early 20th-century woman's lot. But I just don't get the ending, I guess, and everything after she finds Vinegar just doesn't work for me. Probably a failing on my part, not the book's.
