Full disclosure: I consider this book one of my "deserted island" books, and have read it about a hundred times. So when my book club picked it for this month's discussion, I was glad to have an excuse to read it again! (The last time I read it was way back in 2010, near the beginning of this blog!)
The plot starts out as a traditional fairy tale, with three daughters, a deceased parent, a stepmother, and a wizard that eats the hearts of young girls. But it quickly turns all of those tropes on its head: Sophie (the eldest daughter, and therefore the most destined to failure) is cursed by the Witch of the Waste into becoming an old woman. With nothing left to lose, she sets out to seek her fortune, and in the process strikes a bargain with a fire demon: if she can break the demon's mysterious contract with the Wizard Howl, he will in turn break her curse. But first Sophie must figure out what the contract is, which means spending time with Howl--who might be one of the most annoying characters in all of literature (nevertheless, Howl was one of my first literary crushes, so I tend to consider his rampant vanity, laziness, and general smarm to be endearing). This is one of those books that I enthusiastically recommend to everyone I know. It bears little resemblance to the Miyazaki film that came out several years ago, so if that's your only exposure to the story, I suggest you check out this story.
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