The Princess and the Goblin tells the magical story of Princess Irene and her journey from the world of the mundane into a world of faith and courage that sees beneath and beyond the surfaces. Considered the grandfather of modern fantasy novels, George Mac Donald first published this novel in serial form from November 1870 to June 1871 in Good Words for the Young, and then as a complete volume in 1872. Our rejuvenated edition makes the story more readable by updating spelling, breaking up very long paragraphs, and replacing quaint but confusing punctuation with more conventional patterns.

About this book, G. K. Chesteron writes, ‘I for one can really testify to a book that has made a difference to my whole existence, which helped me to see things in a certain way from the start; a vision of things which even so real a revolution as a change of religious allegiance has substantially only crowned and confirmed. Of all the stories I have read, including even all the novels of the same novelist, it remains the most real, the most like life. It is called The Princess and the Goblin, and is by George Mac Donald.’

Madeleine L’Engle writes, ‘I loved George Mac Donald, beginning with The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie. Like all great fantasists, he has taught me about life, life in eternity rather than chronology, life in that time in which we are real.’

W.H. Auden writes, ‘The Princess and the Goblin is, in my opinion the only English children’s book in the same class as the Alice books.’

Although this story was originally written for children, don’t assume that this is a children’s book! ‘I write, not for children, ‘ Mac Donald wrote, ‘but for the child-like, whether they be five, or fifty, or seventy-five.’