Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel for young adults by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986. It was adapted in 2004 as an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

Plot

The novel is about a young woman named Sophie Hatter, the oldest of three daughters living in the magical kingdom of Ingary, where many fairy-tale tropes are accepted ways of life. Resigned to the "fact" that the middle sister is the beautiful one and the youngest the talented one, Sophie steels herself for a dull life running the family hat shop—until she is turned into an old crone by the Witch of the Waste, a powerful witch whom she inadvertently offends, and finds work as a housekeeper for the notorious Wizard Howl (who is said to collect the hearts of beautiful young women).

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Sophie soon learns that Howl, a cavalier but good-natured playboy, spread the malicious rumours about himself to ensure his privacy. His castle actually exists simultaneously in four different places and with four different appearances: the moving castle Sophie first comes upon, Howl's boyhood home in Wales (Wizard Howl's real name is Howell Jenkins), the seaside city where Howl sells his services, and the royal capital.

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Sophie strikes a bargain with Howl's resident fire demon, Calcifer: if Sophie can break the contract Howl and Calcifer have signed, then Calcifer will turn Sophie back into her original form. Part of the contract, however, stipulates that neither Howl nor Calcifer can disclose the terms of the contract to any third party; Sophie, therefore, has to guess what the contract is.

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Howl's apprentice Michael runs most of the day-to-day affairs of Howl's business, while Howl chases his latest crushes. Both Howl and Michael begin to court Sophie's sister Lettie, though Michael's Lettie turns out to be Sophie's sister Martha, magically disguised to look like Lettie.

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When Wizard Suliman (Benjamin Sullivan, also Welsh) goes missing whilst in search of the prodigal Prince Justin, the king orders Howl to find Suliman and Justin and kill the Witch of the Waste. Howl attempts to weasel out of it by having Sophie, pretending to be his mother, petition against the appointment, but to no avail. Howl, however, has his own reasons for seeking a confrontation with the Witch of the Waste; the witch, a jaded former lover, has laid a curse on him (and kills his teacher).

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Howl fights the Witch of the Waste, feigning reluctance to do so, and wins. Sophie turns out to be a witch and marries Howl; Lettie, also a witch, marries Suliman; and Sophie manages to guess and break Calcifer's contract.

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