At the Back of the North Wind – George MacDonald 1880s

At the Back of the North Wind – George MacDonald (1871)

George MacDonald’s classic Victorian fairy tale weaves a hauntingly beautiful narrative about Diamond, a poor but pure-hearted London cabman’s son, and his mystical friendship with the North Wind, a majestic and enigmatic spirit who embodies both kindness and terrifying power.

The North Wind—sometimes a radiant woman, sometimes a howling force—takes Diamond on nocturnal journeys through skies and starry realms, revealing glimpses of sorrow and wonder beyond human understanding. Their adventures oscillate between dreamlike escapism (flying over icebergs, visiting a paradise “at her back”) and gritty realism (Diamond’s family struggles with poverty and illness), reflecting MacDonald’s belief in faith’s triumph over adversity.

A cornerstone of fantasy literature, the novel influenced C.S. Lewis (who called MacDonald his “master”) and J.R.R. Tolkien with its mythopoeic depth and moral allegory.

“A lullaby and a tempest in one—where death is but a door, and love the key.”