Aunt Alice – 'Aunt Al' as the children call her, is the Scottish Great-Aunt of Sophie's father, and so is Great-Great-Aunt to the children themselves. In 'Sophie's Snail' she reveals to Sophie that she is eighty. In 'Sophie Hits Six', Aunt Al shares a childhood photo of herself aged nine, riding a pony. The photo is dated 1920, thus making Aunt Al's year of birth 1911, and placing the start of the canon (at which she is eighty, as she reveals to Sophie in 'Sophie's Snail') somewhere in 1991, during Sophie's fifth year of life. Sophie is especially fond of Aunt Al, since they both love animals, and share a no-nonsense approach to life. Nevertheless, Aunt Al is seen speaking sharply to Sophie for being disparaging of Dawn during her first riding lesson in 'Sophie Hits Six'. Aunt Al lives in a large house – complete with at least one employed domestic staff member – in the Scottish Highlands. She is described in the books as being quite 'bird-like', and, like the rest of Sophie's family, is very encouraging of Sophie's wish to become a Lady Farmer. She dies peacefully in the night at the end of 'Sophie's Lucky', shortly before her eighty-third birthday, and leaves her entire estate to Sophie's parents, and her farm to Sophie - on the condition that the family moves up to Scotland and inhabits the house. The book - and the canon - ends with the family fulfilling this condition.
