Olia loves to explore it, searching for hidden doorways into the domes which are full of magic. The castle is 500 years old and with its 33 turrets and domes is full of secrets. The family are descended from royalty and their home is the huge Castle Mila. I can't wait to see where Sophie takes us next.Ĥ16 pages / Ages 10+ / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacherġ3-year-old Olia lives with her parents, grandmother Babusya and baby sister Rosa, whom she adores. The House with Chicken Legs remains my favourite book by Sophie Anderson, but this comes a very close second (and there are links!) and would make a wonderful story to share with a class. People have the power to change things if they believe in themselves. Olia has to come to terms with the shameful and thoughtless actions of her predecessors and proves that she is different. Taking responsibility for the past - the actions of our ancestors - and not forgetting but seeking to face up to it and making amends is a poignant thread to the tale. She gathers an amazing assortment of companions as she travels on her quest - Feliks, the castle 'domovoi' or protective house spirit, Koshka the cat, Cascadia the 'rusalka' (female water spirit) and Dub the leshy (tree spirit) to name a few.įamily and love are at the heart of the story- it's not the place that is the home, but the people in it. Olia (named for the Magnolia) is an amazing heroine, full of courage and determination, of kindness and compassion. Wonderful characters of all descriptions fill the pages, many with their roots in Slavic mythology. The Castle of Tangled Magic mingles Russian folklore mingles with the magic of her own imagination to create a compelling and engaging adventure, told in rich, evocative language with much imagery related to nature and its beauty.

So Olia sets off through a magical doorway to another land where, with the new friends she meets along the way, she must use the magic within herself and save everyone.Ī natural storyteller, Sophie Anderson has done it again with this gem of a book. But strange storms are rising and Olia's Babusya urges her to unlock the castle's magic before it destroys everything. Although they no longer live in the grandeur of the past, the domed castle offers them shelter and the rest of the village space to celebrate and work.

Olia loves Castle Mila, the ancestral home of her family, a place full of secrets and magic.

The castle of tangled magic