House of Many Ways Summary: A Whimsical Magical Maze Awaits
Introduction: A Cozy Magical Adventure
Charmain Baker prefers books to people and has never washed a dish in her life. When her bossy aunt volunteers her to house-sit for a sick wizard, she sees a chance for freedom.
But Great-Uncle William’s cottage is no ordinary home. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones throws Charmain into a world of mischievous kobolds, spatial-bending corridors, and a dangerous royal mystery.
This third book in the World of Howl series works as a standalone fantasy. It is for readers aged 8-12 who enjoy cozy settings with sudden bursts of action.
TL;DR: A Bookish Girl’s Chaotic House-Sitting Gig
- A sheltered girl must care for a wizard’s magical, messy house.
- She discovers hidden talents and a tiny dog with a big secret.
- The kingdom’s money is vanishing, and the culprit is close to the throne.
- Familiar faces from Howl’s Moving Castle join the adventure.
- Domestic comedy builds into a final showdown with parasitic monsters.
Story Snapshot
Genre & Subgenre: Young Adult Fantasy / Domestic and Humorous Fantasy
Core Narrative Tropes: The Reluctant House-Sitter, The Secretly Magical Companion, The Hidden Royal Heir, The Disguised Wizard, Space-Bending Labyrinth
Tone & Atmosphere: Cozy, whimsical, humorous, and highly domestic with elements of suspense
Primary Conflict: A domestic and political mystery where young protagonists must survive chores and defeat corrupt lubbockins
Pacing Style: Character-driven and leisurely, building from quiet domestic comedy to fast-paced rooftop chases
ISBN-10: 0061477974
ISBN-13: 978-0061477973
Pages: 432
House of Many Ways Summary: The Deep Dive
SPOILERS AHEAD. This section recounts the full story.
Charmain Baker arrives at Great-Uncle William’s cottage expecting a quiet time alone. She immediately faces mountains of dirty dishes and a kitchen with no taps.
A trembling white dog named Waif hides under the table. Charmain attempts laundry, accidentally creating a storm of soap bubbles. In the chaos, a soaking-wet apprentice named Peter Regis appears at the door.
Peter’s spells go wrong just as often as Charmain’s chores. An enlargement spell makes Waif grow to the size of a carthorse.
Charmain discovers she can command the house’s pipes with raw, forceful magic. The two young people form an uneasy alliance.
Meanwhile, Charmain receives a letter from King Adolphus X accepting her application to work in the Royal Library.
At the Royal Mansion, Charmain catalogues old documents. She meets Princess Hilda and the King.
She also encounters Sophie Pendragon, her toddler Morgan, a strange angelic child named Twinkle, and a fire demon called Calcifer. Twinkle is actually Wizard Howl in disguise, investigating the kingdom’s financial ruin.
He casts a spell on the library papers, making treasury-related documents glow green.
Outside the palace, danger grows. Prince Ludovic is revealed to be a lubbockin, a purple-eyed half-human creature. The King’s steward shares the same monstrous trait.
A giant purple lubbock terrorizes the mountain meadow. It bribes a kobold named Rollo and stings him, laying eggs inside his body.
An elf delivers a box of lubbock eggs extracted from Great-Uncle William. Only a fire demon can destroy them. Charmain brings Calcifer from the Mansion.
Calcifer summons Howl’s moving castle, incinerates the giant lubbock, and safely detonates the eggs. The explosion causes a massive landslide.
Charmain and Peter trap Rollo and learn the truth about the stolen gold. Prince Ludovic and the steward have been forcing enslaved kobolds to carry tax money into Castel Joie.
The kingdom is being robbed from within. Peter’s mother, the Witch of Montalbino, reveals that Waif is an enchanting dog. She also explains that the prince has been murdering royal heirs.
The final confrontation happens at the Royal Mansion. Two female lubbockins attack and kidnap Twinkle. He escapes and leads everyone to a hidden loft containing the lost royal gold.
Downstairs, Prince Ludovic grabs Morgan as a hostage. The boy pulls off the prince’s wig, exposing his bald purple head. Howl swaps places with his son, punches the prince, and transforms the villains into rabbits.
Waif hunts and kills the rabbits. Howl reveals that Waif is the legendary Elfgift, a protective treasure. Charmain becomes her official guardian. Peter is declared the new Crown Prince.
Great-Uncle William returns, and Sophie’s family departs in their moving castle. The citizens of High Norland celebrate their restored kingdom.
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Summary by Chapter
SPOILERS AHEAD. This section provides a chapter-by-chapter short overview for readers who want to understand the book’s structure.
Chapter 1: In Which Charmain Is Volunteered to Look After a Wizard’s House
Aunt Sempronia decrees that Charmain will house-sit for Great-Uncle William, who is ill.
Charmain’s mother worries because the old man is a wizard. Charmain, who loves reading more than anything, secretly writes to the King asking for a library job. She travels to the wizard’s small, dull cottage. Elves in white robes arrive to take the ailing wizard away for treatment. Charmain is left alone with the house and its mysteries.
Chapter 2: In Which Charmain Explores the House
Charmain hears the wizard’s voice giving instructions from thin air. She finds a filthy kitchen with no taps and piles of laundry. A tiny white dog named Waif befriends her.
She discovers a study filled with books and a magical volume called “The Boke of Palimpsest.” The house seems to shift and change around her. She gets lost more than once but always finds her way back.
Chapter 3: In Which Charmain Works Several Spells at Once
Charmain tries a flying spell from the book. The pages turn on their own, combining multiple spells. She climbs out a window and finds herself in a high mountain meadow.
She picks a blue flower that transforms into a giant purple monster called a lubbock. The creature claims the land and threatens her. Panicked, Charmain falls off a cliff.
Chapter 4: Introduces Rollo, Peter, and Mysterious Changes to Waif
The combined spells slow Charmain’s fall, letting her float to safety. She meets Rollo, a grumpy blue kobold gardener. Her attempt to light a fire with a soap-covered blouse fills the kitchen with bubbles.
Peter Regis arrives, claiming to be the wizard’s apprentice. His enlargement spell makes Waif gigantic and overheats the pipes. Charmain commands the magic to stop.
Chapter 5: In Which Charmain Receives Her Anxious Parent
Waif shrinks back to normal size. Charmain and Peter look up lubbocks in an encyclopedia and learn they lay eggs in humans. Charmain’s mother and Aunt Sempronia visit unexpectedly.
She distracts them with magical tea and cakes. Her mother delivers a letter from the King. Charmain eagerly awaits reading it alone.
Chapter 6: Which Concerns the Color Blue
The kitchen fills with angry blue kobolds led by Timminz. They demand to chop down the wizard’s pink and white hydrangeas, which they consider incorrect. Charmain refuses.
The kobolds retaliate by cutting all the blooms. Peter forces Charmain to help wash dishes by hand. She struggles with the physical labor.
Chapter 7: In Which a Number of People Arrive at the Royal Mansion
Charmain starts work in the Royal Library. She meets King Adolphus X and Princess Hilda. She discovers the golden roof is actually enchanted tin.
Sophie Pendragon arrives with her toddler Morgan, an angelic child named Twinkle, and the fire demon Calcifer. The King reveals they are searching for a lost treasure called the Elfgift.
Chapter 8: In Which Peter Has Trouble with the Plumbing
Sophie is angry that Howl, disguised as Twinkle, brought their son to the Mansion. Charmain returns home to find the kitchen flooded. Peter’s spell to fix a burst pipe only moved the leak.
Charmain uses her raw magic to seal the pipe. Peter accidentally sets himself on fire with a botched spell. Charmain cancels it.
Chapter 9: How Great-Uncle William’s House Proved to Have Many Ways
Peter and Charmain find a zigzag map of the house. It shows corridors leading to a pool, a stable, and even the Royal Mansion. Charmain gets lost trying to use it.
Peter reveals he traveled into the past and met a younger Great-Uncle William. The wizard said the house once belonged to Wizard Melicot and might hide the royal gold.
Chapter 10: In Which Twinkle Takes to the Roof
Charmain finds Twinkle sitting on the slippery golden roof. He reveals he cast a spell making treasury documents glow green for her. Back in the library, she sees a diary mentioning a midwife who killed a lubbockin baby.
She makes a secret copy of the royal family tree. The King dismisses her for the weekend to host Prince Ludovic.
Chapter 11: In Which Charmain Kneels on a Cake
Charmain visits her father’s bakery to learn basic cooking. He secretly gives her a notebook of kitchen spells.
On the way home, Prince Ludovic’s carriage nearly runs her over. A local woman warns that the prince uses lubbockins to silence critics. Peter cooks a meal from the squashed pastries.
Chapter 12: Concerns Laundry and Lubbock Eggs
Charmain accidentally ruins a load of laundry, dyeing shirts pink. An elf arrives with a box of three lubbock eggs extracted from the wizard.
Charmain runs to the Royal Mansion to fetch Calcifer. At a tea party, she sees Prince Ludovic and the steward’s eyes glow purple. She realizes they are lubbockins.
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Chapter 13: In Which Calcifer Is Very Active
Calcifer disguises himself as a plate of cake to escape the Mansion. They witness the lubbock sting Rollo to lay eggs. Calcifer summons Howl’s moving castle to chase and incinerate the lubbock.
He detonates the eggs in a massive explosion that shears away half the mountain. Calcifer disappears in the aftermath.
Chapter 14: Which Is Full of Kobolds Again
Charmain and Peter trap Rollo and bring him to Timminz. Rollo’s gold bribe turns to dead leaves, forcing a confession. He learns lubbock eggs are growing inside him.
The kobolds agree to trade a sled chair to the elves for his cure. Timminz shows Charmain where the King’s money goes. They witness Prince Ludovic forcing enslaved kobolds to carry stolen gold.
Chapter 15: In Which the Child Twinkle Is Kidnapped
Peter’s mother, the Witch of Montalbino, arrives at the cottage. She reveals Waif is an enchanting dog and that the prince murdered her husband. Charmain runs to tell Sophie.
She finds Howl’s moving castle parked in Royal Square. Inside the Mansion, two lubbockins in disguise attack and kidnap Twinkle.
Chapter 16: Which Is Full of Escapes and Discoveries
Twinkle escapes and leads everyone to a hidden loft filled with the royal gold. Prince Ludovic grabs Morgan, but the boy pulls off his wig. Howl swaps places with Morgan and punches the prince.
The villains are turned into rabbits, which Waif kills. Howl reveals Waif is the Elfgift. Peter becomes the Crown Prince, and Charmain becomes the wizard’s apprentice.
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Charmain Baker | A bookish girl who house-sits for her great-uncle and becomes the Elfgift Guardian. |
| Great-Uncle William Norland | A respected wizard who is taken away by elves to be cured of an illness. |
| Aunt Sempronia | Charmain’s bossy relative who volunteers her for house-sitting and is secretly a witch. |
| Mrs. Berenice Baker | Charmain’s mother who values respectability and dislikes magic. |
| Mr. Sam Baker | Charmain’s father, a royal baker who secretly uses magic in his kitchen. |
| Waif | A small white dog who is actually the legendary Elfgift with protective magic. |
| Peter Regis | A clumsy apprentice wizard who is revealed to be the rightful Crown Prince. |
| King Adolphus X | The ruler of High Norland who searches for his lost treasury and the Elfgift. |
| Princess Hilda | The King’s aristocratic daughter who helps with library cataloguing. |
| Rollo | A grumpy blue kobold gardener who is bribed by the lubbock. |
| The Lubbock | A giant purple insect-like monster that lays parasitic eggs in humans. |
| Timminz | The blue-nosed kobold chieftain who later helps uncover the stolen gold. |
| Sophie Pendragon | A witch and friend of Princess Hilda who protects her family throughout the story. |
| Twinkle (Wizard Howl) | Sophie’s husband, a powerful wizard disguised as a child to investigate the treasury. |
| Calcifer | A fire demon who lives in Howl’s castle and destroys the lubbock and its eggs. |
| Morgan | Sophie and Howl’s active toddler son. |
| Jamal | The one-eyed royal cook whose dog eats the transformed lubbockins. |
| Sim | The old butler at the Royal Mansion who carries a gold brick as evidence. |
| The Colorless Gentleman | The King’s steward, secretly a lubbockin helping Prince Ludovic steal gold. |
| Prince Ludovic | The heir to the throne who is a lubbockin plotting to seize power. |
| The Witch of Montalbino (Princess Matilda) | Peter’s mother and a royal cousin who hid to protect her son. |
Key Ideas
| Theme | How the book presents it |
|---|---|
| Respectability versus Practicality | Charmain’s parents raise her to be respectable but useless, forcing her to unlearn this to survive on her own. |
| The Burden and Gift of Magic | Charmain possesses raw, untrained power while Peter bungles perfect methods, showing different struggles with magical ability. |
| Greed and Corruption | Prince Ludovic and the steward systematically steal tax revenues, linking their parasitic nature as lubbockins to theft. |
| Family and Inverted Snobbery | Peter’s mother hides as a witch, while Princess Hilda maintains aristocratic standards, contrasting different family identities. |
| Nature and Harmony | The kobolds demand rigid flower colors, while the natural beauty of multi-colored hydrangeas sparks conflict. |
Who Is House of Many Ways For?
This book suits readers who enjoy fantasy grounded in everyday chores and humorous mishaps. The reading experience balances slow, character-driven scenes with sudden action sequences.
Fans of cozy mysteries will appreciate the domestic puzzles and hidden clues. Readers who like magical creatures such as kobolds and fire demons will find familiar comfort here.
The story works for both new readers and those who know the previous World of Howl books.
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If You Liked House of Many Ways, Try These Books
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones — The prequel featuring Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer in a whimsical, shape-shifting home.
- Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones — The second book in the trilogy with a similar tone and returning characters.
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones — The first Chrestomanci book with a cozy magical setting and a young apprentice.
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin — A story about a magic apprentice discovering the weight of raw power.
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster — A highly imaginative tale full of wordplay and strange creatures.
Memorable Quotes from House of Many Ways
“I’m quite sure the King will just scrumple the letter up and throw it on the fire, she thought. But at least I tried.”
“Please be kind to Waif, who has not been with me for long enough to feel secure, and please feel free to help yourself to any books in this study…”
“All the land you can see is mine.”
“Why is it respectable not to know how to do things? Is it respectable to light a fire with a bar of soap?”
“Life is never fair, my dear.”
“I was just beginning to learn that if I drop something on the floor it stays dropped unless I pick it up, and if I make a mess I have to clear it away because it doesn’t go by itself, and then you go and clear it up for me! You’re as bad as my mother!”
“If Peter can possibly bungle a spell, he will.”
“You did protect the country, didn’t you? And I never even noticed!”
Diana Wynne Jones: A Master of Magical Mischief
Diana Wynne Jones was born in London in 1934 and studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She wrote over forty books for children and young adults.
Her writing career took off with the Chrestomanci series, which introduced readers to a world of parallel universes and bureaucratic magic.
House of Many Ways is the final book in her beloved Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy.
