Arriman the Awful, feared Wizard if the North needs a wife. He has decided to marry and his wife must be a witch of the darkest powers - but which witch will she be? In order to find the blackest and most fiendish witch Arriman holds a spell-casting competition, and the competition is strong even if the field is not beautiful - has Arriman done the right thing and if so how will he ever be able to choose?

Taking the traditional conventions of black and white magic and turning them on their head so that in fact black magic is the most sought after, Eva Ibbotson has created a mad, delightful and wondrous fantasy adventure story.

This audio CD read by Lesley Sharp will have children captivated and  desperate to read the full story . The narration is perfect, it is well paced, contains plenty of detail with which to feed the imagination, a variety of voices so that each character remains distinct and an excellent pace that will keep the listener engrossed and on the edge of their seat wondering if Belladonna can ever become black;  will Arriman see through the nasty Madam Olympia and will the worm ever be found.

This is storytelling at its best and it has been brilliantly converted into an audio CD that will be very much enjoyed by listeners of every age.

2009-01-25