Chapters 1 through 3 Summary

In Chapter 1, in the town of Market Chipping, in the land of Ingary, live three sisters and their father and mother. The family owns a hat shop and the girls attend an expensive private school. Sophie is the oldest of the sisters, and therefore is doomed to fail first. Lettie is the middle sister, and is doomed to fail also, second only to her older sister. Martha, on the other hand, is the youngest, and therefore the most likely to succeed. After the father dies, the mother discovers that they don't quite have enough money to keep the shop open and the girls in school. Fanny explains this to the girls, and tells them of their fates. Martha, as the youngest and most likely to find her fortune, is apprenticed to a witch. This will give Martha wealthy courtly friends and...