At the Back of the North Wind (Books of Wonder) - Hardcover

Macdonald, George

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688078087 ISBN 13: 9780688078089

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1989

Synopsis

George MacDonald's best-known fantasy has enchanted generations of children and adults since it was first published in London over a century ago. Considered to be a landmark in the development of the children's novel, this enthralling fairy tale is just as endearing today.

Modern readers will thrill to the story of little Diamond and the tall, majestic North Wind-the lady whose dark eyes blazed and whose glistening black hair streamed around behind her. They and their fantastic tale are vividly portrayed in eight full-color paintings by Jessie Willcox Smith, one of America's most beloved illustrators.

This facsimile of the rare 1919 edition is sure to be treasured by young and old alike.

About this title

Review:

This is a story of a poor stable boy living in Victorian London in which everyday lives are mysteriously enveloped by a power and a glory, personified here as a beautiful woman known as the North Wind. She visits the small boy, Diamond, and takes him with her on her journeys, teaching him about herself. Through the eyes of an innocent and yet perceptive child, MacDonald explores North Wind as a way of exploring the place of death in our lives. He looks squarely at social injustice--he knew poverty and the poor first hand--and yet also sees that the deepest need we have is for love and forgiveness, which are rooted in eternity.

This is a book for children--I've read it to my own daughter more than once--even though they may not understand just who North Wind is until years later. Adults on the other hand will learn that while they thought they knew something about death, there is much to relearn--and probably the most important part. --Doug Thorpe

From the Inside Flap:

A Victorian fairy tale that has enchanted readers for more than a hundred years: the magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind?a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair?and whose life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country ?at the back of the north wind.? It combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of mid-19th-century England with the invention of an ethereal landscape, and is published here alongside Arthur Hughes?s handsome illustrations from the original 1871 edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0688078087
• ISBN 13: 9780688078089
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252
• Illustrator: Smith Jessie W