At the Back of the North Wind

Originally serialized in 1868 and collected as a book in 1871, “At the Back of the North Wind” is the magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind—a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair—and whose life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country—at the back of the north wind. It combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of mid-19th-century England with the invention of an ethereal landscape. More than a century after it was written, George MacDonald's “At the Back of the North Wind” continues to intrigue readers with its allegorical treatment of life and death.