Lilith: A Romance

Lilith is George MacDonald's powerful and surprising fantasy novel that sense its protagonist through a mirror into a parallel world of haunting imagery and meaning. The subtitle, "A Romance," points to the great redemptive work that goes on in this world.

Considered the grandfather of modern fantasy novels, George MacDonald published this novel toward the end of his writing life, in 1895. 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.

Of MacDonald, C.S. Lewis writes, "What he does best is fantasy-fantasy that hovers between the allegorical and the mythopoeic. And this in my opinion he does better than any man. The great works are Phantastes, the Curdie books, The Golden Key, The Wise Woman and Lilith. They are supremely good. The meaning, the suggestion, the radiance, is incarnate in the whole story."

Madeleine L'Engle writes, "Surely, George MacDonald is the grandfather of us all-all of us who struggle to come to terms with truth through fantasy."