The Slippery Slope

Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ibbotson writes in the simple declarative sentences of someone telling a bedtime tale ... and then guides the reader gently by the hand into horror.  Because it's a children's book, all has to turn out for the best.  In the meantime, the most unimaginable cruelties can take place. 
There are two witches who were best friends in witching school but had a falling out and went their separate ways.  Because they are "good" witches, they try to do good.  This seems to consist of finding very bad people and either turning them into interesting animals (that are now "nice" so they must be cared for) or to stone. 
If you are a child, this might make sense, and two out of the three children who get involved are happy to help.  The third child, a very very smart Asian girl, is reluctant, but she loses her reservations when a white supremacist comes to town.  Ah, how easily we respond to fear! 
We can also be gulled by love, which steers the witches blindly into cruelty on a mass scale. 
If the actions in this book seem horrifying, they are told in a fairytale style, softening them and making them seem palatable until the little snowball runs out of control and the avalanche ensues.  This is a cautionary tale.  It's about right and wrong.  And Ibbotson has very clear ideas what constitutes right and wrong.



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