Adela Cathcart

George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor to fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works on Christian apologetics. A farmer's son, born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, he grew up in an unusually literary environment: one of his maternal uncles was a notable Celtic scholar and collector of fairy tales and poetry, a paternal cousin was another Celtic academic, and his mother had received a classical education which included multiple languages. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1845 with a master's degree in chemistry and physics, spent the next several years struggling with matters of faith and deciding what path his life should take, then in 1848 began theological training at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry. In 1850 he was appointed minister of Trinity Congregational Church in Arundel, Sussex, but his sermons met with litttle favour and his salary was cut in half. He later travelled to Algiers for his health (tuberculosis running in his family), settling in London on his return where he taught at the University of London and was for a time editor of Good Words for the Young. His first novel David Elginbrod was published in 1863 and he went on to make his name as a respected writer, best-known for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy works including At the Back of the North Wind (1871) and The Princess and the Goblin (1872). In all, he produced over 50 books, almost half of which were written after his move to Bordighera on the Italian Riviera where he established a literary studio. One of his earlier works, Adela Cathcart (1864) is the story of a young woman suffering from an unspecified illness, something akin to depression, which her family and friends strive to alleviate through story-telling. Thus, within this framework, MacDonald presents a series of stories, including The Light Princess and The Giant's Heart, ranging from etherial, whimsical and charrming to eerie and terrifying. Adela is cured and also finds love with a young doctor, one of the storytellers.