But the fact remains that all witches are women. Intriguingly, it has also found itself at one time or another banned for perceived misogyny, as Dahl states that only women can be witches: 'I do not wish to speak badly about women,' the author writes. Winner of the Whitbread Award for Children's Novel in 1983, The Witches was also successfully dramatised on several occasions, most famously perhaps the 1990 film featuring Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, which featured a differing ending from that in the book (much to the author's chagrin). A classic dark tale from a master of the genre, the macabre menace only slightly mitigated by the target audience being children. In The Witches, a large cross-section of women didn’t just not want children but they wanted to kill everyone else’s, an unapologetic and bloodthirsty desire for a child-free world. Page stock somewhat browned as usual, a little cocked but a very nice copy in the price-clipped dust jacket. First edition, first impression 8vo illustrations by Quentin Blake publisher's boards, dust-jacket with artwork by Quentin Blake.
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