This is one of the most strange and inconsistent books I have ever read. The first third is devoted to the exceptionally tedious and confusing history of a family, full of characters that are completely irrelevant and never appear again. The second third is much more interesting, and concerns the life of an ageing spinster aunt, who suddenly, after twenty years of unnoticeable helpfulness in her relations' house, decides to go off and live on her own in a little village no one has ever heard of. Then, in the last third, she enters into a compact with the Devil and becomes a witch. The last part is so delightful, faintly surreal yet rich in fresh, original and touching descriptions and events, I was absolutely enchanted with it. I loved the main character, and all the (for lack of a better word) quirky events of her internal and external life. There's a wonderful blurring of fantasy and reality, and some utterly lovely chats with Satan. I'm really glad that I pushed past that first third of the book, but it would have been an immensely better book if it had not been there. There's something really unusual and interesting about the writing, it feels like there are ellipses of some sort, whole leaps in thought and logic that are just not on the page, and the action proceeds somewhat illogically, but it also somehow makes the main character feel very close and the tenor of her thoughts is incredibly easy to enter into and believe. I really love unusual fantasy, or novels that creatively engage with fantastic elements, and this is definitely one of them.
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