There are some things you're not supposed to do as a writer. yes, shock horror, the village fête, when Mr Brown and his wicked accomplices are revealed as characters not just from Shakespeare, but from English folklore and Renaissance mythology: Oberon, Titania and Puck. There are innumerable deftly woven mini-stories within Enchanted Glass that bring it to life battles over pianos and parsnips, the joy of simpleton Shaun's skill with lawnmowers and robots, and a touchingly simple love story between Andrew and Stashe all enchant the reader long before the climax at.

In time, therefore, this evil plot is revealed, but it's the journey there, with its delightful characters, that makes this book what it is.

Gradually, Aidan and Andrew learn about each other's, and indeed their own, magical skills, and about the threat from a certain Mr O Brown, the ostentatious neighbour at nouveau Melstone Manor, who seems keen to encroach, with violence if necessary, upon Andrew's land. There's Stashe, Mr Stock's attractive but bossy niece, and above all, there's Aidan Cain, a young orphan on the run, who turns up on Andrew's doorstep one day, asking for safety in the name of his recently deceased grandmother. There's Mr Stock (no relation – this is one of those villages with only five surnames) the gardener, who deposits the largest and least edible vegetables on the kitchen table every morning, having banged the back door open, despite the precious (and enchanted) stained glass to be found there. There's Mrs Stock, the domineering housekeeper, with whom Andrew battles over such issues as the position of the piano in the drawing room and the subsequent merciless revenge by endless cauliflower cheese.

Enchanted glass by diana wynne jones