Uncle Ralph sets up a series of experiments for Christopher in the dreams - starting with meeting Tacroy there. The Almost Anywheres are in fact other worlds! Then he meets his Uncle Ralph to explain about his dreams, and soon realises that they are not normal at all. Not until the Last Governess finds the toys he has steadily been bringing back from the Anywheres, and decides that he must have stolen them. As a result, when Christopher starts having very interesting dreams, in which he gets out of his bed, walks around a corner near the fireplace, and into an endlessly fascinating landscape full of exotic places which he calls Almost Anywheres, he has no one to tell about it.Īt first, he doesn't even realise that these dreams are anything out of the ordinary. His parents are so absorbed in their prickly relationship that they have no time for him, and the nurserymaids have no patience. However, Christopher himself is left to the care of a long succession of first nurserymaids, each of whom leaves in a huff after a very short time in the household, and then governesses, who leave equally soon and usually in tears.Īs an only child, Christopher therefore has no one to tell his troubles or triumphs to. His mother wears wide silk skirts, full of frills and draperies, and her hair is very elaborately styled. His origins are very Victorian - his father wears a frock coat, a tall silk hat, and luxuriant black whiskers, with his black hair parted carefully in the middle. This book tells the story of Christopher Chant before he becomes the new Chrestomanci. The two books are so cleverly intertwined that it leaves no sense that they were not written together - story elements that are critical to one book are explained or given more substance in the other, and characters who appear in both are true to their personalities as presented in the other book. The most interesting fact about this book is that it was published 11 years after its sequel, Charmed Life. Christopher Chant comes from a family rich in magic, but he's never been able to work any.

The nine lives of christopher chant