Die Hutmacherin Sophie hätte es wissen müssen: Als älteste von drei Schwestern hat man immer Pech, wenn man auszieht, um das Glück zu suchen. Das weiß in Ingari schließlich jedes Kind. Und so wird Sophie auch alsbald von einer eifersüchtigen Hexe in eine alte Frau verwandelt. Was tun? Sophie heuert als Hausdame bei dem gefürchteten Zauberer und Herzensbrecher Howl an. In seinem fliegenden Schloss hat sie alle Hände voll damit zu tun, 1. den Feuerdämon Calcifer bei Laune zu halten, 2. dem Lehrling Michael bei dessen kläglichen Zaubereiversuchen zu helfen und 3. Howl daran zu hindern, ihrer Schwester Lettie das Herz zu brechen. Dabei wollte sie doch eigentlich nur ihre eigene Gestalt zurückerlangen. . .
In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter.
After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch. The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls.
The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning.
In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?
Diana Wynne Jones's entrancing fantasy is filled with surprises at every turn, but when the final stormy duel between the Witch and the Wizard is finished, all the pieces fall magically into place.
