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The story is told through the eyes of the young Tonino
Montana and his brother Paolo. They are both members of Casa Montana, one of two spell-houses in Caprona, the other being Casa Petrocchi. The two spell-houses are deadly rivals; the two families are both convinced that the decline of Caprona is
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Tonino is, unknown to himself or the rest of Casa
Montana, a talented enchanter; however, he is unaware of his ability, and prefers to spend his time reading. Paolo is more outgoing and friendly, and does better at school. When representatives of both houses are called to the Duke of Caprona's
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During the book, Tonino is kidnapped and finds himself held hostage with
Angelica Petrocci and whilst the two houses blame each other, Tonino and Angelica have to put their differences aside to escape. Meanwhile, Paolo teams with Renata Petrocci in order to save their lost siblings.
510:#44, and stated that "it features pleasantly dotty goings-on in an Italian city-state whose principal magician families are busily playing Montagues and Capulets to considerable comic effect ... Fun."
357:
palace, they both go. Whilst there, they meet members of the
Petrocchi family for the first time, and they also encounter the Duchess, a powerful woman who appears to be the true ruler of Caprona.
329:. The houses of Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi, both renowned for being powerful magician families, have been feuding with each other for generations. The city has begun to lose its "
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is set in our time, during the tenure of
Christopher Chant, who is Chrestomanci in five of the seven books and is often called Chrestomanci as a personal name.
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The
Chrestomanci books are collectively named for a powerful enchanter and British government official in a world parallel to ours, who supervises the use of
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The family feud between Casa
Montana and Casa Petrocchi is reminiscent of the one between the Montagues and Capulets from
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intend to take advantage of this by uniting to conquer
Caprona. The only way to save the city is if the true words to the
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is a city-state in the Italy of
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The character of
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all the fault of the other spell-house, and refuse to work together under any circumstances.
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The infobox provides data from ISFDB for the first UK edition (from "Publisher" to "ISBN").
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It features the venerable Italian family spell-houses Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi in
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published by MacMillan Children's Books in 1980. It was the second published of seven
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exclusively and in a world that is parallel and close to ours.
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Estimated location of fictional city-state of Caprona
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51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
16:1980 children's fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones
546:, presumably south of Pisa because it borders on
288:is a children's fantasy novel by British author
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
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680:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
606:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
590:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
519:Review by Frederick Patten (1981) in
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49:adding citations to reliable sources
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643:"Title: The Magicians of Caprona"
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621:(August 1983). "Critical Mass".
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36:needs additional citations for
1028:The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
763:The Lives of Christopher Chant
608:(ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-04-28.
372:The Lives of Christopher Chant
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1144:Children's books set in Italy
668:Children's literature portal
588:publication contents at the
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1134:Macmillan Publishers books
592:. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
60:"The Magicians of Caprona"
1109:British children's novels
1104:Children's fantasy novels
584:The Magicians of Caprona
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124:The Magicians of Caprona
747:The Magicians of Caprona
502:The Magicians of Caprona
477:Allusions to other works
385:Antonio "Tonino" Montana
312:The Magicians of Caprona
285:The Magicians of Caprona
1114:British fantasy novels
604:series listing at the
522:Science Fiction Review
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1129:1980 children's books
988:The Homeward Bounders
980:The Time of the Ghost
929:The Merlin Conspiracy
855:Dark Lord of Derkholm
375:and as a teenager in
333:," and the states of
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1071:Earwig and the Witch
1063:Howl's Moving Castle
884:Howl's Moving Castle
875:Howl's Moving Castle
470:The Angel of Caprona
45:improve this article
1124:1980 fantasy novels
1119:1980 British novels
1099:Novels set in Italy
1012:A Tale of Time City
948:The Ogre Downstairs
863:Year of the Griffin
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1139:Tuscany in fiction
1094:Chrestomanci books
964:Eight Days of Luke
900:House of Many Ways
390:Angelica Petrocchi
294:Chrestomanci books
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892:Castle in the Air
834:Crown of Dalemark
720:Diana Wynne Jones
676:Diana Wynne Jones
425:Elizabeth Montana
290:Diana Wynne Jones
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242:978-0-333-27891-8
223:Print (hardcover)
212:Publication place
151:Cover artist
145:Diana Wynne Jones
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173:Chrestomanci
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
18:
1055:Adaptations
921:Deep Secret
624:White Dwarf
525:, Fall 1981
507:White Dwarf
483:Shakespeare
455:The Duchess
101:August 2015
1088:Categories
755:Witch Week
566:References
365:Characters
266:Witch Week
183:Children's
71:newspapers
500:reviewed
493:Reception
440:Benvenuto
196:Macmillan
192:Publisher
1036:The Game
956:Dogsbody
846:Derkholm
552:Florence
450:The Duke
445:Vittoria
335:Florence
161:Language
1020:Hexwood
678:at the
514:Reviews
323:Caprona
301:Caprona
164:English
155:Ionicus
85:scholar
1074:(2020)
1066:(2004)
1047:(2010)
1039:(2007)
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912:Magids
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627:(44).
554:, and
341:, and
331:virtue
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169:Series
141:Author
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716:Works
631:: 14.
556:Siena
530:Notes
339:Siena
308:magic
228:Pages
179:Genre
92:JSTOR
78:books
548:Pisa
504:for
343:Pisa
237:ISBN
207:1980
64:news
718:by
485:'s
47:by
1090::
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99:(
89:·
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