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Lolly Willowes, so gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family: witchcraft.

[The book] I'll be pressing into people's hands forever is Lolly Willowes, the 1926 novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner. It tells the story of a woman who rejects the life that society has fixed for her in favor of freedom and the most unexpected of alliances. It completely blindsided me: Starting as a straightforward, albeit beautifully written family saga, it tips suddenly into extraordinary, lucid wildness. - Helen Macdonald in The New York Times Book Review's By the Book.

In Lolly Willowes, Sylvia Townsend Warner tells of an aging spinster's struggle to break way from her controlling family--a classic story that she treats with cool feminist intelligence, while adding a dimension of the supernatural and strange. Warner is one of the outstanding and indispensable mavericks of twentieth-century literature, a writer to set beside Djuna Barnes and Jane Bowles, with a subversive genius that anticipates the fantastic flights of such contemporaries as Angela Carter and Jeanette Winterson.

This is the witty, eerie, tender but firm life history of a middle-class Englishwoman who politely declines to make the expected connection with the opposite sex and becomes a witch instead. -- John Updike

Forty-seven-year-old Lolly Willowes is a conventional maiden aunt, an unpaid companion and babysitter to her brothers' children. After years of submission to her controlling family, she develops a longing for the countryside and dark, wild places that impels her to flee London for a remote village. Lolly soon discovers that her new neighbors are a coven of bohemian witches and eventually encounters Satan himself -- a genial country gentleman who's ready to make a pact.
The first-ever selection of the Book of the Month Club upon its 1926 publication, Lolly Willowes was a surprise international bestseller. This proto-feminist work has since been chosen as one of the Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time, and it remains a richly satirical novel that celebrates the joys of self-actualization.

Revolutionary ... a subtle demand for women's power over their own lives. -- Alison Lurie

Remarkable ... pungent and satisfying. -- Saturday Review

Set in early twentieth-century England, Lolly Willowes is a satirical comedy of manners and an early feminist classic. With deft storytelling and compelling prose, Sylvia Townsend Warner invites you into a world where convention meets enchantment, where the line between reality and the supernatural is blurred. Lolly Willowes, a woman of quiet rebellion and hidden desires, dares to free herself from a suffocating web of familial and societal expectations. As Lolly sheds her dutiful daughter and obedient sister skin, she finds solace and freedom in the quaint village of Great Mop, with its chalk hills and beech woods. When her newfound contentment is threatened by the arrival of her nephew, she boldly embraces a dark path to secure an audacious and irrevocable freedom.

Lolly Willowes is a satirical comedy of manners incorporating elements of fantasy. It is the story of a middle-aged spinster who moves to a country village to escape her controlling relatives and takes up the practice of witchcraft. The novel opens at the turn of the twentieth century, with Laura Willowes moving from Somerset to London to live with her brother Henry and his family. The move comes in the wake of the death of Laura's father, Everard, with whom she lived at the family home, Lady Place. Laura's other brother, James, moves into Lady Place with his wife and his young son, Titus, with the intention to continue the family's brewing business. However, James dies suddenly of a heart attack and Lady Place is rented out, with the view that Titus, once grown up, will return to the home and run the business.

After twenty years of being a live-in aunt, Laura finds herself feeling increasingly stifled both by her obligations to the family and by living in London. When shopping for flowers on the Moscow Road, Laura decides she wishes to move to the Chiltern Hills and, buying a guidebook and map to the area, she picks the village of Great Mop as her new home. Against the wishes of her extended family, Laura moves to Great Mop and finds herself entranced and overwhelmed by the chalk hills and beech woods. Though sometimes disturbed by strange noises at night, she settles in and befriends her landlady and a poultry farmer.

After a while, Titus decides to move from his lodgings in Bloomsbury to Great Mop and be a writer, rather than managing the family business. Titus's renewed social and domestic reliance on Laura makes her feel frustrated that even living in the Chilterns she cannot escape the duties expected of women. When out walking, she makes a pact with a force that she takes to be Satan, to be free from such duties. On returning to her lodgings, she discovers a kitten, whom she takes to be Satan's emissary, and names him Vinegar, in reference to an old picture of witches' familiars. Subsequently, her landlady takes her to a Witches' Sabbath attended by many of the villagers.

Titus is plagued with misadventures, such as having his milk constantly curdle and falling into a nest of wasps. Finally, he proposes marriage to a London visitor, Pandora Williams, who has treated his wasp stings, and the two retreat to London. Laura, relieved, meets Satan at Mulgrave Folly and tells him that women are like 'sticks of dynamite' waiting to explode and that all women are witches even 'if they never do anything with their witchcraft, they know it's there - ready!' The novel ends with Laura acknowledging that her new freedom comes at the expense of knowing that she belongs to the 'satisfied but profound indifferent ownership' of Satan.

Sophia Willoughby, a young Englishwoman from an aristocratic family and a person of strong opinions and even stronger will, has packed her cheating husband off to Paris. He can have his tawdry mistress. She intends to devote herself to the serious business of raising her two children in proper Tory fashion.

Then tragedy strikes: the children die, and Sophia, in despair, finds her way to Paris, arriving just in time for the revolution of 1848. Before long she has formed the unlikeliest of close relations with Minna, her husband's sometime mistress, whose dramatic recitations, based on her hair-raising childhood in czarist Russia, electrify audiences in drawing rooms and on the street alike. Minna, magnanimous and unscrupulous, fickle, ardent, and interfering, leads Sophia on a wild adventure through bohemian and revolutionary Paris, in a story that reaches an unforgettable conclusion amidst the bullets, bloodshed, and hope of the barricades.

Sylvia Townsend Warner was one of the most original and inventive of twentieth-century English novelists. At once an adventure story, a love story, and a novel of ideas, Summer Will Show is a brilliant reimagining of the possibilities of historical fiction.

First published in 1926, Lolly Willowes is Sylvia Townsend Warner's satirical feminist comedy of manners. Set in the first part of the twentieth century, the novel concerns the aging spinster Laura Willowes who comes to live with her elder brother and his family in London following the death of her father. After many years of living in the shadow of her controlling family, Laura, while shopping for flowers, on a whim decides to break free and move to the English countryside. Her destination is the town of Great Mop in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London. Her escape from the duties her family imposes upon her is soon foiled when her nephew Titus decides to abandon the family business and moves to Great Mop to become a writer. What follows is a pact with the devil, the adoption of an emissary of Satan which comes in the form of a cat named Vinegar, and a turn towards the practice of witchcraft. In this fantastic turn of events we find a hilarious exposition of the lengths a woman must go to escape the burdens placed upon her by society at the turn of the twentieth century. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Considered an early feminist classic, Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes; Or The Loving Huntsman is a fantastical comedy about a middle-aged witch and her search for peace that was selected as the first ever Book of the Month upon publication in 1926.

When her father died, Laura Willowes went to live in London with her elder brother and his family...[she] was a gentle creature, and the little girls loved her; she would soon fit into her new home. London would be a pleasant change for her. She would meet nice people, and in London she would have a better chance of marrying. Lolly was twenty-eight. She would have to make haste if she were going to find a husband before she was thirty.

Feeling suffocated by the demands of her family, Laura Willowes abandons everything to move to Chiltern Hills. Acquainting herself with her neighbors and the land, she experiences a taste of freedom she desires; unaware that her nephew Titus has invaded her new home. Annoyed by his expectations, Laura goes out into the woods and forges a pact with Satan to be free, and begins to dabble in witchcraft. Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Lolly Willowes; Or, The Loving Hunstman is a reimagining of a feminist classic for the modern reader.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Lolly Willowes is a novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner, described as an early feminist classic. It is a satirical comedy story with elements of fantasy. It tells about a middle-aged spinster Laura Willowes who escapes from her relatives and takes up the practice of witchcraft. The whole plot of the story tells about Laura's attempt to escape from the roles the society expects from her. Yet, even when she left her brother's family and settled in a lonely village house, her nephew decides to move in with her. Infuriated Laura makes a spell to drive away the attention of the nasty relatives and suddenly a train of misfortunes persuades her nephew leave the village and his aunt's house. Laura now truly believes that every woman is a witch and is left alone to practice her favorite craft in peace.

In this delightful and witty novel, Laura Willowes rebels against pressure to be the perfect maiden aunt. Not interested in men or the rushed life of London, Laura is forced to move there from her beloved countryside after the death of her father. Finally, she strikes out for the countryside on her own, selling her soul to an affable but rather simpleminded devil. First written in the 1920s, this book is timely and entertaining. It was the first selection of the BookoftheMonth Club in 1926.

After a decade in one South Seas mission, a London bank-clerk-turned-minister sets his heart on serving a remote volcanic island. Fanua contains neither cannibals nor Christians, but its citizens, his superior warns, are like children--immoral children. Still, Mr. Timothy Fortune lights out for Fanua. Yet after three years, he has made only one convert, and his devotion to the boy may prove more sensual than sacred. Mr. Fortune's Maggot, Sylvia Townsend Warner's follow-up to Lolly Willowes, is lyrical, droll, and deeply affecting, and her missionary captivated his creator as much as he did her readers.

Long after the work's publication, Warner began the novella The Salutation. Now adrift and starving on the Brazilian pampas, Mr. Fortune is rescued by an elderly widow, who delights in having an Englishman about the house. Her heir, however, may beg to differ.

Brilliant and subversive, Mr. Fortune's Maggot and its sequel are now available in one volume. They show Sylvia Townsend Warner at the height of her powers.

This is a new release of the original 1926 edition.

Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman is a novel written by Sylvia Townsend Warner. It was first published in 1926 and is considered a classic of feminist literature. The story revolves around a spinster named Laura Willowes, or Lolly, who lives with her family in London. After the death of her father, Lolly moves to the countryside to live with her brother and his family. However, she soon becomes restless and decides to strike out on her own. She moves to a small village called Great Mop, where she becomes involved in the local community and begins to explore her own identity. Lolly discovers that she has a talent for witchcraft and begins to use her powers to help the people of the village. However, her newfound independence and unconventional lifestyle are met with suspicion and disapproval from her family and society at large. The novel explores themes of female empowerment, freedom, and the struggle against societal expectations. Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman is a witty and insightful novel that offers a unique perspective on the role of women in society.1926. Sylvia Townsend Warner's first novel is an enduring, subversive, and lyrical portrait of spinsterhood in post-World War I Britain. Lolly is a single woman and after her father dies, she is moved, as a matter of course, to her brother's house, where she meekly obliges to play caregiver to his children and housemaid to his wife. After 20 years of this life she moves to the rural village of Great Mop. She feels an affinity for the town, the countryside, and her new neighbors. She blossoms emotionally and spiritually, and as she does so, she discovers an important secret: She is a witch, as is everybody else who lives in Great Mop. A graceful read in the tradition of women's fiction and magic realism.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Of the previous century's many great storytellers, Sylvia Townsend Warner was the supreme enchantress. The Music at Long Verney collects twenty of her best short stories, most of them from the great years at The New Yorker. They span a full half-century, from 1929 to 1977, and are crowded with irrepressible, living characters and even more animated objects and incidents. There are stories of romantic love and the mysteries of marriage; of artists who speak the truth even as they distort reality; of gardens and houses and very fine things and of those who fancy themselves their owners. The centerpiece of the collection is a series of five linked stories about an eccentric establishment, the Abbey Antiques Gallery, and its singular proprietor, the urbane Mr. Edom. Some of these stories are hilarious, others hauntingly lyrical, but all are incomparably witty and original-in short, they're vintage Warner. On every page, writes John Updike, there is something to be seen or smelled or felt... Beneath her refined witchery lies a strange freshness one can only call, in praise, primitive.

Considered an early feminist classic, Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes; Or The Loving Huntsman is a fantastical comedy about a middle-aged witch and her search for peace that was selected as the first ever Book of the Month upon publication in 1926.

When her father died, Laura Willowes went to live in London with her elder brother and his family...[she] was a gentle creature, and the little girls loved her; she would soon fit into her new home. London would be a pleasant change for her. She would meet nice people, and in London she would have a better chance of marrying. Lolly was twenty-eight. She would have to make haste if she were going to find a husband before she was thirty. Feeling suffocated by the demands of her family, Laura Willowes abandons everything to move to Chiltern Hills. Acquainting herself with her neighbors and the land, she experiences a taste of freedom she desires; unaware that her nephew Titus has invaded her new home. Annoyed by his expectations, Laura goes out into the woods and forges a pact with Satan to be free, and begins to dabble in witchcraft. Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Lolly Willowes; Or, The Loving Hunstman is a reimagining of a feminist classic for the modern reader.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman is a novel by English writer Sylvia Townsend Warner, her first, published in 1926. It has been described as an early feminist classic.

Lolly is the version of Laura's name used by her family after a mispronunciation by a young niece. She comes to dislike being called Aunt Lolly and to see the name as a symbol of her lack of independence. The Loving Huntsman refers to Satan, whom Laura envisions as hunting souls in a kindly way.

Lolly Willowes is a satirical comedy of manners incorporating elements of fantasy. It is the story of a middle-aged spinster who moves to a country village to escape her controlling relatives and takes up the practice of witchcraft. The novel opens at the turn of the twentieth century, with Laura Willowes moving from Somerset to London to live with her brother Henry and his family. The move comes in the wake of the death of Laura's father, Everard, with whom she lived at the family home, Lady Place. Laura's other brother, James, moves into Lady Place with his wife and his young son, Titus, with the intention to continue the family's brewing business. However, James dies suddenly of a heart attack and Lady Place is rented out, with the view that Titus, once grown up, will return to the home and run the business.

After twenty years of being a live-in aunt Laura finds herself feeling increasingly stifled both by her obligations to the family and by living in London. When shopping for flowers on the Moscow Road, Laura decides she wishes to move to the Chiltern Hills and, buying a guide book and map to the area, she picks the village of Great Mop as her new home. Against the wishes of her extended family, Laura moves to Great Mop and finds herself entranced and overwhelmed by the chalk hills and beech woods. Though sometimes disturbed by strange noises at night, she settles in and befriends her landlady and a poultry farmer.

After a while, Titus decides to move from his lodgings in Bloomsbury to Great Mop and be a writer, rather than managing the family business. Titus's renewed social and domestic reliance on Laura make her feel frustrated that even living in the Chilterns she cannot escape the duties expected of women. When out walking, she makes a pact with a force that she takes to be Satan, to be free from such duties. On returning to her lodgings, she discovers a kitten, whom she takes to be Satan's emissary, and names him Vinegar, in reference to an old picture of witches' familiars. Subsequently, her landlady takes her to a Witches' Sabbath attended by many of the villagers.

Titus is plagued with misadventures, such as having his milk constantly curdle and falling into a nest of wasps. Finally, he proposes marriage to a London visitor, Pandora Williams, who has treated his wasp stings, and the two retreat to London. Laura, relieved, meets Satan at Mulgrave Folly and tells him that women are like 'sticks of dynamite' waiting to explode and that all women are witches even 'if they never do anything with their witchcraft, they know it's there - ready!' The novel ends with Laura acknowledging that her new freedom comes at the expense of knowing that she belongs to the 'satisfied but profound indifferent ownership' of Satan.

The novel was well received by critics on its publication. In France it was shortlisted for the Prix Femina and in the USA it was the very first Book Of The Month for the Book Club.

Until the 1960s, the manuscript of Lolly Willowes was displayed in the New York Public Library.

In 2014, Robert McCrum chose it as one of the 100 Best Novels in English, for his list for The Guardian. (wikipedia.org)

Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman is a novel by English writer Sylvia Townsend Warner, her first, published in 1926. It has been described as an early feminist classic.

Lolly is the version of Laura's name used by her family after a mispronunciation by a young niece. She comes to dislike being called Aunt Lolly and to see the name as a symbol of her lack of independence. The Loving Huntsman refers to Satan, whom Laura envisions as hunting souls in a kindly way.

Lolly Willowes is a satirical comedy of manners incorporating elements of fantasy. It is the story of a middle-aged spinster who moves to a country village to escape her controlling relatives and takes up the practice of witchcraft. The novel opens at the turn of the twentieth century, with Laura Willowes moving from Somerset to London to live with her brother Henry and his family. The move comes in the wake of the death of Laura's father, Everard, with whom she lived at the family home, Lady Place. Laura's other brother, James, moves into Lady Place with his wife and his young son, Titus, with the intention to continue the family's brewing business. However, James dies suddenly of a heart attack and Lady Place is rented out, with the view that Titus, once grown up, will return to the home and run the business.

After twenty years of being a live-in aunt Laura finds herself feeling increasingly stifled both by her obligations to the family and by living in London. When shopping for flowers on the Moscow Road, Laura decides she wishes to move to the Chiltern Hills and, buying a guide book and map to the area, she picks the village of Great Mop as her new home. Against the wishes of her extended family, Laura moves to Great Mop and finds herself entranced and overwhelmed by the chalk hills and beech woods. Though sometimes disturbed by strange noises at night, she settles in and befriends her landlady and a poultry farmer.

After a while, Titus decides to move from his lodgings in Bloomsbury to Great Mop and be a writer, rather than managing the family business. Titus's renewed social and domestic reliance on Laura make her feel frustrated that even living in the Chilterns she cannot escape the duties expected of women. When out walking, she makes a pact with a force that she takes to be Satan, to be free from such duties. On returning to her lodgings, she discovers a kitten, whom she takes to be Satan's emissary, and names him Vinegar, in reference to an old picture of witches' familiars. Subsequently, her landlady takes her to a Witches' Sabbath attended by many of the villagers.

Titus is plagued with misadventures, such as having his milk constantly curdle and falling into a nest of wasps. Finally, he proposes marriage to a London visitor, Pandora Williams, who has treated his wasp stings, and the two retreat to London. Laura, relieved, meets Satan at Mulgrave Folly and tells him that women are like 'sticks of dynamite' waiting to explode and that all women are witches even 'if they never do anything with their witchcraft, they know it's there - ready!' The novel ends with Laura acknowledging that her new freedom comes at the expense of knowing that she belongs to the 'satisfied but profound indifferent ownership' of Satan.

The novel was well received by critics on its publication. In France it was shortlisted for the Prix Femina and in the USA it was the very first Book Of The Month for the Book Club.

Until the 1960s, the manuscript of Lolly Willowes was displayed in the New York Public Library.

In 2014, Robert McCrum chose it as one of the 100 Best Novels in English, for his list for The Guardian. (wikipedia.org)

First published in 1926, 'Lolly Willowes or the Loving Huntsman' is an amusing and witty novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner, an English novelist, poet, and musicologist.

In this, Lolly Willowes revolutionaries against coercion to be the perfect 'maiden aunt'. Always so gentle and accommodating, not curious about men or the hustled life of London, suddenly announces that she is moving, alone, or rather compelled to move there from her cherished countryside after the death of her father. To her overbearing family in London, it is a disturbing and inexplicable act of defiance. Finally, she crashes out for the countryside on her own, selling her soul to a friendly but rather simpleminded demon. This book is opportunely and delightful.

The story of a woman who rejects the life that society has fixed for her in favor of freedom and the most unexpected of alliances.

-The New York Times Book Review

First published in 1926, 'Lolly Willowes or the Loving Huntsman' is an amusing and witty novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner, an English novelist, poet, and musicologist.

In this, Lolly Willowes revolutionaries against coercion to be the perfect 'maiden aunt'. Always so gentle and accommodating, not curious about men or the hustled life of London, suddenly announces that she is moving, alone, or rather compelled to move there from her cherished countryside after the death of her father. To her overbearing family in London, it is a disturbing and inexplicable act of defiance. Finally, she crashes out for the countryside on her own, selling her soul to a friendly but rather simpleminded demon. This book is opportunely and delightful.

The story of a woman who rejects the life that society has fixed for her in favor of freedom and the most unexpected of alliances.

-The New York Times Book Review

Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman is a novel written by Sylvia Townsend Warner. The story revolves around a woman named Laura Willowes, who is known as Lolly by her family. She lives a conventional life in London with her brother and sister-in-law, but she longs for something more. After her father's death, Lolly decides to move to the countryside and live on her own. She finds a new sense of freedom and independence, and she begins to explore her own desires and interests.As Lolly settles into her new life, she discovers that she has a special connection to the natural world. She becomes deeply involved in witchcraft and begins to explore her own powers. She also meets a mysterious man known as the Loving Huntsman, who offers her a different kind of love and companionship than she has ever experienced before.As Lolly's relationship with the Loving Huntsman deepens, she must confront the challenges and consequences of her newfound independence. She must also navigate the expectations and judgments of her family and society, who view her unconventional choices with suspicion and disapproval.Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of freedom, independence, and personal fulfillment. It is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today.1926. Sylvia Townsend Warner's first novel is an enduring, subversive, and lyrical portrait of spinsterhood in post-World War I Britain. Lolly is a single woman and after her father dies, she is moved, as a matter of course, to her brother's house, where she meekly obliges to play caregiver to his children and housemaid to his wife. After 20 years of this life she moves to the rural village of Great Mop. She feels an affinity for the town, the countryside, and her new neighbors. She blossoms emotionally and spiritually, and as she does so, she discovers an important secret: She is a witch, as is everybody else who lives in Great Mop. A graceful read in the tradition of women's fiction and magic realism.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.