Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil
On sale
19th June 2025
Price: £24.99
Books can change lives. Magic books can change everything.
In a tiny, miserable farm on the edge of the tiny, miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is trying to get on with her equally tiny and miserable existence. Dividing her time between enduring her feckless husband, inadequately caring for the farm’s strange collection of animals, cooking up ‘scrunge’, and crooning over her treasured pot of basil, Isabella can’t help but think that there might be something more to life. So, while she’s initially aghast when Mr. Nagg comes home with a spell book purloined from the local wizard, she soon starts to think: what harm could a little magic do?
As Isabella embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a grouchy cat-like companion, Darkshire’s imagination runs wild, plunging readers into a delightfully deranged world full of enchantment, folklore, and an entrepreneurial villain running a magical Ponzi scheme.
Cosy, full of wit and Pratchett-ian footnotes, Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is a book for those who can’t help but find magic even in the oddest and most baffling circumstances; a story about claiming a new life and finding oneself – and also goblins, capitalism, and sorcery.
In a tiny, miserable farm on the edge of the tiny, miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is trying to get on with her equally tiny and miserable existence. Dividing her time between enduring her feckless husband, inadequately caring for the farm’s strange collection of animals, cooking up ‘scrunge’, and crooning over her treasured pot of basil, Isabella can’t help but think that there might be something more to life. So, while she’s initially aghast when Mr. Nagg comes home with a spell book purloined from the local wizard, she soon starts to think: what harm could a little magic do?
As Isabella embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a grouchy cat-like companion, Darkshire’s imagination runs wild, plunging readers into a delightfully deranged world full of enchantment, folklore, and an entrepreneurial villain running a magical Ponzi scheme.
Cosy, full of wit and Pratchett-ian footnotes, Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is a book for those who can’t help but find magic even in the oddest and most baffling circumstances; a story about claiming a new life and finding oneself – and also goblins, capitalism, and sorcery.
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Reviews
PRAISE FOR ONCE UPON A TOME
A mischievous Terry Pratchett tone ... Uproariously funny
An utter treat
Brings to mind the works of Terry Pratchett ... a delightful read. It will make you laugh and surprisingly tug on your heartstrings
Darkshire is an exciting new voice brimming with self-effacing charm
Darkshire's humorous and clever fantasy borrows from poets and folklorists alike
Delightfully deranged . . . a new and original kind of enchantment
Enchanting ... every page is a pleasure
Extremely entertaining
I have been longing for fantasy stories with middle-aged heroines, so I was delighted to discover the pragmatic and intelligent Isabella. Oliver Darkshire weaves a vivid story with a humorous, fantastical voice and complicated world-building
I lost track of the number of times that I audibly chortled, snorted, and made startled little noises of exclamation through my nose while tearing my way through Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil. Funny, inventive, and deeply unsettling in the grand tradition of some of the more obscure fairy tales it references, this book is a gem that was perfectly cut to fit the Pratchett-shaped hole in my heart
Laugh-out-loud
Mr. Darkshire is a witty observer ... charming
Peculiarly hilarious and/or hilariously peculiar!
This book is a delightful modern fairytale full of strangeness and wonder, and no small amount of humour. Oliver Darkshire has done a wonderful job bringing us into his fresh, fantastical world, and it's somewhere you want to stay.
Utterly charming
With its mixture of exaggerated misanthropy and eloquent surrealism, Once Upon a Tome calls to mind the cult television sitcom Black Books
With more humour than you can shake a homemade apple-tree wand at, and a folkloric world of magic tomes, snarky almost-cats and the twin menaces of goblins and capitalism, Darkshire's story is a bubbling cauldron overflowing with imagination and charm
Witty and heartwarming
Witty and wry*, a book filled with untrustworthy herbs, far too much porridge, and the most unusual and compelling explanation for goblins you will ever see.
*and punctuated by an egregious number of delightful footnotes
Witty. Whimsical. Smart. A cozy gem