The book was adapted into an anime film by Hayao Miyazaki. Indeed, the main theme of the book is that everything in the story is something else, having been transformed by magic. As Sophie and Howl grow closer, it becomes more and more apparent that all is not as it seems. Calcifer, however, has grown to resent Howl over the years and agrees to free Sophie from her curse if she can, in turn, somehow void his own agreement with Howl. The castle is powered by the grumpy fire demon, Calcifer, who is linked to Howl in a mysterious magical contract. After this transformation, Sophie exiles herself from her hometown and happens to become a house cleaner for Howl - who lives inside a moving castle with magic doors leading all over the country.

Mistaking Sophie for her sister Lettie, the Witch places a curse on Sophie which turns her into an old woman. She works in a hat store owned by her late father, where she feels resigned to spend the rest of her days, until one day an encounter with the dashing and handsome young wizard Howl marks her as a target of the Witch of the Waste, a jilted former lover of Howl's.

Sophie Hatter is a sensible young woman who utterly lacks any confidence in herself. The first book in the Wizard's Castle series of young adult fantasy novels by Diana Wynne Jones, which gleefully lampshades and parodies many tropes common to the Fairy Tale genre.

House of many ways howl and sophie