It transpires that
Granny Weatherwax has a sister, Lily – now calling herself Lilith – who wants
to force people into enacting the stereotypes of the fairytales, living in a
land where everyone must be happy whether they like it or not. Lily lets
several stories happen simultaneously; like the evil queen who appears in the
mirror, she uses mirror magic as a form of control. She has her own form of
power (is she the good or the bad witch, and which one does that make Granny
Weatherwax?). “She had buried three husbands, and at least two of them had been
already dead.” Pratchett touches upon myths and legends as well as fairytales, so
Circe, Bluebeard, Casanova, vampires and the Wizard of Oz intermingle with Cinderella,
Rumpelstiltskin, the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Bears,
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty – “There’ll be a spinning wheel at the bottom of
all this, you mark my words.”
As the witches set
off to right the wrongs of the world, they learn about the structure of stories:
“Three was an important number for stories. Three wishes, three princes, three
billy goats, three guesses… three witches. The maiden, the mother and the…
other one. That was one of the oldest stories of all.” Naturally, not all
these conventions are true, for example, “The natural size of a coven is one.
Witches only get together when they can’t avoid it.” Meanwhile, Nanny Ogg sends
postcards home to our Jason, about what it’s like to be abroad or in foreign parts
(where they do odd things like ‘drink fizzy wine out of ladies’ boots’) and
obviously the structure and convention of writing postcards is its own artform –
sadly, practically lost in 2023.
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