Ford Madox Ford 1 hr 34 min read

A young queen, weary of her scheming court, learns from a bat how to fly, and soars away over the leas and the sea toward freedom and a truer kingdom of her own.

Ford Madox Ford's 1894 fairy tale, with a frontispiece by Burne-Jones, is a lovely children's fantasy. Whimsical, lyrical, tender. Read it for an early gem by the great novelist, a flying queen's escape from a false court into wonder and self-discovery, in a delicate, beautifully imagined wonder-tale.

In its time

Published in 1894, during the 1890s, wells arrives.

Reading it

1 hr 34 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

C. R. B. Barrett