The Pinhoe Egg
First edition (UK)
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
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| Illustrator | Tim Stevens |
| Cover artist | Tim Stevens |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Chrestomanci |
| Genre | Children's fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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September 2006 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 458 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 70059480 |
| LC Class | PZ7.J684 Pin 2006 |
| Preceded by | Conrad's Fate |
The Pinhoe Egg is a children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2006. It was the last published of the seven Chrestomanci books (1977 to 2006).
It revisits Chrestomanci Castle and the character of Cat Chant from her first Chrestomanci book, but also introduces the character of Marianne Pinhoe, who lives in the village near the castle and whose family practices a rather different sort of magic from any that Chrestomanci or his charges have encountered.
The Chrestomanci books are collectively named for a powerful enchanter and British government official in a world parallel to ours, who supervises the use of magic —or the Chrestomanci, an office that requires a powerful enchanter and is responsible for supervising. The Pinhoe Egg is set in our time, during the tenure of Christopher Chant, who is Chrestomanci in five of the seven books and is often called Chrestomanci as a personal name.
Marianne Pinhoe's family tries to keep their magic a secret. They don't want the "Big Man", or Chrestomanci, interfering, as he tends to do when people misuse magic. And the Pinhoes certainly are guilty of that. Gammer, the head of the Pinhoe clan, has ostensibly gone mad, but Marianne doesn't believe that she's completely 'round the twist. She's sure that Gammer's the one sending plagues to the Farleighs, a related clan that also wishes to stay out of the sights of the "Big Man". Until recently, the Farleighs and the Pinhoes had been working together, but it seems that Gammer has started a war, and it'll be hard to keep their operations under wraps for long.
Meanwhile, up at the Castle, Cat acquires a horse. He also meets the man who was bootboy at the Castle when the current Chrestomanci was a lad, Jason, and helps him and his new wife choose a house. They finally settle on Woods House, Gammer's old place, and Marianne, while showing Cat around, gives him an old egg from the attic, an egg with strong "Don't Notice" spells placed on it. An egg that is sure to arouse the interest of the "Big Man" up at the castle – something the rest of the Pinhoe clan, and Gammer in particular, doesn't want at all.
Marianne Pinhoe: Marianne is the main protagonist of the book. She is set to be the next Gammer of the Pinhoe clan, but that isn't what she wants at all. She has very strong magic, but, like many of Jones' characters, doesn't know it. She is an enchantress, although her mother trains her up to be a witch. She seems to have a lot of "dwimmer," which is a sort of magic.
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Wikipedia