Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart (2003) is a novel of magical realism—the story takes place in the real world, but magic figures into the plot and character development. Funke went on to write other books in the Inkworld series: Inkspell (2005), and Inkdeath (2007). A fourth, The Colour of Revenge, will be released in October 2023. A movie adaption of Inkheart, produced by Funke, was released in 2008. Inkheart has received numerous literary accolades, including the 2004 Booksense Book of the Year award.

Plot Summary

Twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart lives with her father, Mortimer “Mo” Folchart, who repairs books for a living. One night, they are visited by a man named Dustfinger, who calls Mo “Silvertongue” and warns that danger is coming. This mysterious stranger prompts Mo and Meggie to flee their small farm and go to Meggie’s great-aunt Elinor Loredan’s estate. On the way there, Dustfinger and Mo explain that they are running from Capricorn, an evil man. Capricorn desires an object Mo is hiding, but Mo is evasive and won’t tell his daughter more.

When they reach the estate, Meggie is thrilled by Elinor’s vast library. She catches her father quietly passing a book to Elinor for safekeeping, but he refuses to explain further. Dustfinger betrays them, arranging for Capricorn’s henchmen to kidnap Mo. However, the attempt is only partially successful because the henchmen are unable to find the object Capricorn so desires—the book Mo gave Elinor, which is called Inkheart. Dustfinger convinces Meggie and Elinor that they should travel to the Italian foothills—where Capricorn’s village is located—to rescue Mo; he suggests that they could exchange Mo for the copy of Inkheart.

Dustfinger takes Meggie and Elinor to Capricorn, which reveals his betrayal. Meggie and Elinor reunite with Mo, who finally explains his secret: When he reads a book, he can conjure the characters and objects from the book into reality. That’s not all—whenever something is read to life, it takes the place of something in the real world, which then must go into the book. Meggie learns that her mother disappeared into Inkheart nine years earlier, at the same time that Capricorn, Basta (Capricorn’s main henchman), Dustfinger, and Dustfinger’s horned marten Gwin, were brought from the book.

Capricorn is keeping Mo prisoner to use Mo’s abilities for his own gain. Having Meggie, Capricorn reasons, will make the process more effective because he can threaten to hurt her if Mo does not cooperate. They learn that Dustfinger betrayed them because Capricorn promised he would make Mo read Dustfinger back into the Inkheart world, where Dustfinger desperately wants to return. Once Mo and Meggie are captured, however, Capricorn cruelly burns copies of Inkheart in front of Dustfinger; he does not reveal until later that he has one last copy, which he keeps in a heavily guarded casket.

Dustfinger, angry at Capricorn’s betrayal, helps Meggie, Mo, and Elinor escape from Capricorn. They are accompanied by a boy named Farid, whom Mo accidentally pulled from Thousand and One Nights when Capricorn forced him to read. They make their way to the village where Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart, lives. Mo explains the situation to Fenoglio, who is amazed to learn his characters have come to life. In the process, Meggie learns that Dustfinger dies in Fenoglio’s Inkheart; devastated, she begs Mo to convince Dustfinger to stay. Mo brings Fenoglio to meet Dustfinger, despite Dustfinger insisting he did not want Fenoglio to know about him; Dustfinger learns of his fate and flees the village, followed by Farid, who latches onto Dustfinger as a mentor.

Elinor returns home to find that in her absence, Capricorn sent his men to raid and destroy her beloved library. She is heartbroken, but she decides to return to the village with Mo and Meggie. Meggie and Fenoglio are captured by Basta, who brings them back to Capricorn. When Elinor and Mo find them missing, they immediately set off after them. Dustfinger and Farid, who are trying to steal the only remaining copy of Inkheart from Capricorn, intercept them. Dustfinger ties up Elinor and Mo to prevent them from interfering and leaves Farid to guard them. However, he soon learns Resa, a maid who does not communicate verbally and his companion from his time working with Capricorn, got caught snooping around for the book on his behalf. Dustfinger also gets caught and captured.

During her second bout of captivity, Meggie discovers that she possesses the same ability as her father. When Capricorn realizes this, he decides that he does not need Mo—he can force Meggie to read the Shadow, his favorite assassin, out of Inkheart. Capricorn wants the Shadow to kill Dustfinger and Resa in a public execution. Meggie realizes that Resa is her mother, whose full name is Teresa, and becomes determined to save all the prisoners. Farid, nervous at Dustfinger’s extended absence, agrees to work with Mo to try and rescue Dustfinger and Meggie. Meanwhile, Elinor is also captured when she tries to alert local police, who are actually under Capricorn’s influence, of the upcoming execution.

Dustfinger escapes, but Capricorn still plans to execute Elinor and Resa with Meggie’s reluctant help. As a distraction, Mo and Farid set fire to part of the village. Meggie reads an alternate text that Fenoglio secretly wrote while they were imprisoned. The new text turns the Shadow against Capricorn and kills him; Mo arrives to help her read the final portion. Fenoglio is sucked into the world of Inkheart. All of the people and creatures who were killed by the Shadow over the years reappear as the Shadow vanishes. Basta and Capricorn’s head housekeeper, Mortola the Magpie, remain in Meggie’s world and run away, while Mo and Meggie reunite with Resa. Elinor offers her large home as a refuge for the creatures that were revived from the Shadow’s destruction. After everyone falls asleep, safe at last, Dustfinger sneaks into camp and steals Inkheart from Mo, setting off to find someone to read him back into the book. Farid accompanies him.

Mo, Resa, and Meggie move into Elinor’s home. Meggie decides that she would like to become an author like Fenoglio.