Nearby is the country of High Norland in the middle of the novel, the King of Ingary mentions that Ingary will likely be attacked by both Strangia and High Norland soon.īefore the move, the castle wanders over the hills between Market Chipping and Upper Folding in the north. Ingary is bordered by Strangia to the east and the Sultanates of Rashpuht to the south. Much of south-eastern Ingary is harsh wilderness referred to as "The Waste". Most of the novel is set in a fictional monarchy, Ingary its capital is Kingsbury. Sophie and Howl admit they love each other when Howl suggests they live happily ever after. Howl had realized early on that Sophie was under a spell and secretly attempted to remove the curse when he had met with failure, he'd figured Sophie simply enjoyed "being in disguise".Ĭalcifer returns, preferring to stay with Howl. Calcifer, as promised, breaks Sophie's spell and she returns to her proper age. With his heart restored, Howl destroys the witch's fire demon, freeing Suliman and Justin.
Sophie uses her ability of bringing things to life to free Calcifer, thus breaking the contract between him and Howl. This was the contract between them the heart kept Calcifer alive, and in return Calcifer put his magic at Howl's disposal.
It was to be completed by the addition of Howl's head.Īt the castle, Miss Angorian takes hold of Calcifer to capture Howl's heart. He kills the Witch and reveals that Miss Angorian was actually the Witch's fire demon in disguise the fire demon had taken control of the Witch and was attempting to create a "perfect human" by fusing Wizard Suliman and Prince Justin. So when Howl comes to save Sophie, unshaven and a mess, it demonstrates his love for her. Howl spends hours in the bathroom everyday primping himself to look handsome for girls Michael had said that the day he does not do this is the day Michael will believe that Howl is truly in love. Believing the Witch has taken Howl's current love interest, Miss Angorian, Sophie goes to save her and is captured by the Witch. He successfully continues to avoid her until she lures Sophie into a trap. Howl, however, has his own reasons to avoid the Witch the Witch, a jilted former lover, has laid a dark curse on him. When Prince Justin, the King's younger brother, goes missing while searching for Wizard Suliman, the King orders Howl to find them both and kill the Witch of the Waste. Howl's apprentice Michael Fisher runs most of the day-to-day affairs of Howl's business, while Howl chases his ever-changing paramours. The door to his castle is actually a portal that opens onto four places: Market Chipping, the seaside city of Porthaven, the royal capital of Kingsbury, and Howl's boyhood home in Wales where he was named Howell Jenkins. Sophie learns that Howl, a rather self-absorbed and fickle but ultimately good-natured person, spreads malicious rumours about himself to avoid work and responsibility. Part of the contract, however, stipulates that neither Howl nor Calcifer can disclose the main clause, leaving Sophie to figure it out on her own. She strikes a bargain with Howl's fire demon, Calcifer: if she can break the contract between Howl and Calcifer, then Calcifer will return her to her original youthful form. When the powerful Witch of the Waste considers her a threat and turns her into an old crone, Sophie leaves the shop and finds work as a cleaning lady for the notorious Wizard Howl. Unbeknownst to her, she is able to talk life into objects. As the eldest, Sophie is resigned to a dull future running the family hat shop.
This series also includes Castle in the Air, published in 1990, and House of Many Ways, published in 2008.
Howl's Moving Castle is the first novel in the series of books called the Howl Series. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed 2004 animated film of the same name, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was a runner-up for the annual Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and won the Phoenix Award twenty years later. Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books of New York.