The Wicked Enchantment

The author's name rings a bell; it's possible that I read this when I was a child...?
.......
Doesn't seem so, doesn't feel at all familiar. I would have loved it though, and I would have remembered the wise & brave Aunt Gundula.

Though a completely different setting, it reminds me of another of my favorite books, one I loved as a child and still do, and still recommend, [b:The Pushcart War|219553|The Pushcart War|Jean Merrill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1314545996l/219553._SY75_.jpg|2092].

This too is enjoyable even though I'm a more jaded adult. There's just so much to love, with humor, & adventure, animals & word-play, big idea themes & charming details.

I recommend it. I might reread it show more someday, as it's avl. on openlibrary. I will continue to consider more by the author. show less

The Wicked Enchantment carries one along in a fantasy, or modern folk tale. Is the city actually under a spell? Why aren't people getting along like they used to? And where on earth has the foolish virgin statue disappeared to? Benary-Isbert lived in Erfurt, Germany for a number of years, and the setting of this marvelous tale certainly sounds like Erfurt with its Cathedral Hill, and the hundred steps up it.

Surprisingly, the de Grummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi, where Margot Benary-Isbert's papers reside, does not mention this book which was published in 1955, after she'd moved to the United States.

"This book has everything: gargoyles, a girl who runs away to join the circus, wise animals and a magic puppet show, an evil tyrant and a happy ending." –Lisa Goldstein

Gundula Immofila forever! ♡