At the Back of the North Wind (Tor Classics) - Softcover

Macdonald, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812567129 ISBN 13: 9780812567120

Publisher: Tor Classics, 1998

Synopsis

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title--offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of At the Back of the North Wind includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by Nancy Springer.

Listen hard...you can hear magic in the wind!

Diamond lives in a hayloft. But that was all right with him. He loves to snuggle up to the horses at night and listen to them snore away. Sometimes he can even hear the stars twinkling in the sky.

One night Diamond is visited by a beautiful fairy with long flowing hair. She calls herself North Wind, and she lives in the enchanged land far, far away. Best of all, she has come to take Diamond back with her--back to the land at the back of the North Wind.

Adored by millions of young readers since its first publication in 1871, George MacDonald's magical tale continues to delight.

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: Tor Classics
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0812567129
• ISBN 13: 9780812567120
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320