The Wise Woman and Other Stories

If a book can feed you this one does. It reaches my consciousness on another level. I know its a children's story, but George MacDonald writes for children of all ages so I share these with my children, enjoying them as much as they do. He's now one of my favorite authors, along with Ethel Cook Eliot - check her out for more amazingly nourishing stories, but with softer edges, fairies, wind creatures and forest people. (The Wind Boy is my favorite, but The Little House in the Fairy Wood is the most popular / easy to find / free on Kindle) I got all the George MacDonald books I could find on Kindle and this story (along wiht the Light Princess and The Princess and the Goblins, and The Princess and Curdie) has stuck with me, an enduring tale.

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I don't like MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind. The main character was just too good and the story too obviously contrived. I skimmed The Light Princess and didn't feel engaged. However, I really liked this story, which I borrowed from the library as The Lost Princess. (Someday, I will get to the Princess series.) Since I enjoyed the story, I read it aloud to the kids and hopped on Amazon to get my own copy. I think there were only two options and both covers were less than appealing. One had a drawing of a nude girl (kneeling with her long hair covering herself but still clearly naked) and the other was of a real woman dressed as queen. I am grateful for a reviewer who warned that some copies of The Lost Princess are abridged and that the story is also (now?) being sold as The Wise Woman. The version I purchased is Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; New edition edition (October 23, 1980). This version has dark black print in a rather ornate script -- as you can see from the sample. On a quick skim, I found a typo (Roasmond for Rosamond), but the entire story is here. Some of the printed pages are faint, but I let it go. Again, there aren't many options. This story isn't a surprise. It's about two spoiled girls: one a princess and the other a shepherd's daughter. The titular wise woman essentially kidnaps the princess, which could be disturbing. However, the tone is like that of a fairy tale (where lots of bad things happen) so it doesn't seem personally threatening. It is pretty didactic but I didn't think it was overbearing. The story describes various trials the girls endure as a result of their (dare I say it?) sin. I thought his analysis of their differences quite insightful, which elevated the story. It wasn't just about bad girls getting what they deserved. The story also moved along quite quickly. This made up for a little of the story's strangeness in parts (i.e. the shepherd's daughter was stuck in a ball and I think she was naked). Other stories are included in this version. I haven't gotten to them yet. I felt that the story itself was worth the price (around $12).

Strange and wonderful and profound. Not to be missed.

Very few books I have read leave me speechless. This is one of them. It is enjoyable to read as merely a fairy tale, but there is much more depth to the story on a spiritual level. Upon finishing the book I felt that I had a clearer understanding of God's role, presence and heart in human suffering. Great read!

There's the usual fairytales and then there's George MacDonald. If you love C.S. Lewis, give these stories a spin, they're short and full of wonder. Love them so much!

If you liked "Unspoken Sermons" but felt MacDonald's discussion of the self to be hard to follow in parts, "The Wise Woman" will unpack that matter beautifully and put it back together again in his signature eloquently enlightening way. These stories are truly a feast for the imaginative heart.

A rare and excellent parenting resource for those who will enjoy a good story!