George MacDonald 2 hr 1 min read

In a country where nothing is certain, a golden rain falls, and a strange fairy tale of pride and humility begins.

George MacDonald's 1875 story (also known as 'The Wise Woman') unfolds in a land of charming unpredictability, spinning a moral fairy tale about a spoiled princess and a spoiled shepherd girl and the mysterious woman who takes them in hand. MacDonald, the great Victorian fantasist who shaped Lewis and Tolkien, writes with his signature blend of whimsy and spiritual depth. Read it for a foundational work of literary fantasy, gentle on the surface and searching underneath.

In its time

Published in 1875, during the 1870s, under the sea and around the moon.

Reading it

2 hr 1 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).