George MacDonald
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A king and queen have a daughter and invite everyone to the christening except the king's sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and curses the princess to have no gravity. Whenever the princess accidentally moves up in the air, she has to be, brought, down, and the wind is capable of carrying her off. As she grows, she never cries, and never can be, brought to see the serious side of anything. She...
42) There and Back
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This final installment of the Thomas Wingfold trilogy from 1891 adds yet further dimensions to the personal search for faith and the nature of belief, exemplified in the characters of Barbara Wilder and Richard Tuke. Both Barbara and Richard must ask whether or not God's existence is true, what God's character is like, and what demands are placed upon them as a result. Wingfold's conversations with Barbara probe the foundations of belief with depth...
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The publication in 1868 of this sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood capped off one of George MacDonald's most productive years with a third major fiction work following Robert Falconer and Guild Court. Set in the Cornwall seaside town of Bude and inspired by a MacDonald family holiday a few years earlier, this novel continues the leisurely pastoral pace of minister Harry Walton's family. Like Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, it was first written...
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MacDonald's second realistic novel written in the first person by a fictional female narrator, almost from its opening pages, The Flight of the Shadow feels somber and ominous. It is thus linked with The Portent from early in MacDonald's career, both books similar of length and style. Again MacDonald develops his familiar themes through the character of an orphan, who, without an earthly father, must yet discover the goodness of God's Fatherhood....
45) Heather and Snow
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This wonderful Scottish tale from 1893, not so expansive of theme and scope as some of MacDonald's lengthier Scottish stories, is yet poignantly moving in its own way. The descriptions of the highlands and the lives of its people are the equal of those in Castle Warlock and What's Mine's Mine. Who, after reading the story of Kirsty Barclay in Heather and Snow, will forget her brother Steenie's cry after "the bonny man!" Indeed, Kirsty is one of MacDonald's...
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George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister who was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature. The mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll, his writings have been cited as a major literary influence by authors including W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien,[1] Walter de la Mare,[2] E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. This collection contains six of his finest fairy tales, including 'The Princess and the Goblin,’...
47) Home Again
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One of MacDonald's smaller novels in length, and neither so ambitious of scope or depth, Home Again from 1887 is loosely based on the prodigal son parable. It is the oft-told tale of an ambitious young man who thinks too highly of himself, falls under the spell of a duplicitous young woman, and must find his way "home." Though less complex than MacDonald's lengthier novels, everything he wrote radiated light. Even in its simplicity, this story of...
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A masterful and timeless novel from the renowned Scottish author-the work that established his place in the pantheon of British literature. Released in 1865 as the second of his major Scottish novels, many consider Alec Forbes of Howglen George MacDonald's most uniformly cohesive work of fiction. Intensely Scottish in flavor, like its predecessor David Elginbrod, the thick Doric dialect of much of the novel was relished by Victorians. Set in MacDonald's...
49) Castle Warlock
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Thematically linked to Mary Marston which preceded it, MacDonald here poignantly depicts the father-son relationship as he had earlier that of father and daughter. MacDonald's storytelling power again returns to the highlands of Scotland, setting his narrative in the hills south of Huntly. We encounter vivid descriptions of that wild terrain, including snowstorms, summer joys, harvests, along with MacDonald's trademark mysteries, inheritances, treasures,...
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In this 1873 short novel for children-by an author who influenced Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and many other fantasy writers-young Willie's wise father, a doctor, lets his son learn by himself how to first work with his hands, then his mind. His resulting benefit Willie, his family, and the world at large.
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While still editing the magazine Good Words for the Young, MacDonald wrote this second "boy's novel," unconnected with but written for a similar audience as Ranald Bannerman's story. Inventive young Willie Macmichael turns everything about him to creative uses, hungrily learning from the grown-ups around him, prompting MacDonald's subtitle, "The Working Genius." Though one of MacDonald's lesser-known titles, editor Michael Phillips comments, "MacDonald's...
52) Donal Grant
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This magnificent 1883 sequel to Sir Gibbie, and MacDonald's longest book, is a novel with everything-a Gothic castle with hidden rooms and passageways, good guys and bad guys, mysteries and inheritances. And poignant yet bittersweet love. Little does Gibbie's friend Donal realize what he is in for when he takes a tutoring job at mysterious Castle Graham! Woven throughout, of course, are many signature tunes of MacDonald's wisdom and spiritual insight,...
53) Adela Cathcart
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Fairy tales told around the fire on Christmas Eve-including "The Light Princess," "The Shadows," "The Golden Key," and "The Giant's Heart."
Reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, MacDonald's attempt to package a collection of short stories in the guise of a novel is built around a group of snowbound travelers attempting to pass the time in a country house by sharing stories in hopes of distracting young Adela Cathcart from her illness. Early...
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If you don't have the time to read all the novels of George MacDonald, the great Scottish storyteller who inspired C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, Mark Twain, W. H. Auden, and J. R. R. Tolkien, this anthology is a great place to start. These selections from MacDonald's novels, fairy tales, and sermons reveal the profound and hopeful Christian vision that infuses his fantasy worlds and other fiction. Newcomers will find in these pages a rich, accessible...
55) A Rough Shaking
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In George MacDonald's most well-known novel, published in 1868, the quest of young Robert Falconer for his father becomes a parallel quest to break free from the oppressive Calvinist theology of his grandmother. As he struggles to come to terms with the strict orthodoxy prevalent in Scotland for two centuries, the doctrine of hell looms as the great stumbling block in Robert's mind. His lifelong search reveals to Robert the groundbreaking truth that...
57) Mary Marston
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One of MacDonald's lengthy and powerful, but not widely studied, novels, Mary Marston is the only book in the MacDonald corpus with a woman featured in the title role. As one of MacDonald's many strong and memorable leading ladies, Mary exemplifies a life of dedication to Christ, self-sacrifice, and obedience to parents. We encounter here a touching portrayal of that earthly relationship so dear to MacDonald's heart, because it so embodied man's relationship...
58) The Elect Lady
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Although one of MacDonald's lesser-known books, The Elect Lady, published in 1888, stands out for the memorable relationship of godliness, trust, honesty, and humility between three children-Andrew and Sandy Ingram and their friend Dawtie-whose growth into adulthood MacDonald follows with simple yet moving power. Their relationships provide the foundation for MacDonald's wisdom to shine forth on the nature and purpose of the church, climaxing in the...
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The Vicar's Daughter, the 1872 sequel to The Seaboard Parish, follows the early married life of one of Harry Walton's (fictional narrator of Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood) daughters. This third book in The Marshmallows Trilogy is representative of the rising interest women were taking in Victorian society. Written in the first person in the fictional guise of female authorship, its characterization of MacDonald's friend and patron Lady Noel Byron...
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The story of a young minister and his flock-first in the Scottish author's Marshmallows Trilogy including The Seaboard Parish and The Vicar's Daughter.
MacDonald's first major English novel, published in 1867, was set in the village of Arundel on the downs south of London near the south channel coast. It was the site of MacDonald's first and only pastorate as a newly married minister in 1851-53. This book is wonderfully descriptive of the region,...