Aunt Maria's overlapping themes of the use of power, family tension, selfrealization, the male-female relationship—typical of Jones—can be found in several outstanding novels. The awardwinning Charmed Life and its sequel Witch Week concern the right use of power. In both, Chrestomanci is a government employee who keeps magic from being used for evil purposes.

Charmed Life specifically treats family tension and maturation through conflict between Chrestomanci's ward, shy Cat Chant, and Cat's jealous, mischief-making sister Gwendolen. The award-winning Archer's Goon concerns a power struggle between the Sykes family and their town's interfering, ruling wizards. The male-female relationship is explored in the honored fantasy romance, Howl's Moving Castle.

In it, young Sophie, magically transformed into a bossy old housekeeper, battles the wizard Howl against a backdrop of humor.