This shorter fairy tale “Double Story” (by which title it was also published), tells the story of spoiled Princess Rosamond, and a mysterious wise woman whom she meets in the forest, and who continues to come to her in different guises which the princess does not always recognize. Considered by some as one of MacDonald’s “short stories” rather than a novel, this edition includes MacDonald’s insightful essay, “The Fantastic Imagination.” This edition of The Wise Woman for The Cullen Collection is unedited.

Following on the heels of Robert Falconer’s hugely influential and controversial story, Guild Court, written concurrently with Falconer and published the same year, is one of MacDonald’s lesser known novels. A love story set in London, its portrait of many intertwining and quirky lives in and around a city court is perhaps the most Dickens-like of MacDonald’s novels. Though not a book that enjoyed such widespread circulation as his others, Guild Court yet contains many of the signature tunes found throughout George MacDonald’s fictional corpus, and presents a powerful story of repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

This towering 1875 novel, set in the Scottish fishing village of Cullen, is considered by many as George MacDonald’s fictional masterwork. The intricate tale is more true to place than any of MacDonald’s books. As Malcolm is drawn into the web of secrets surrounding majestic Lossie House, with the marquis of Lossie and his tempestuous daughter Florimel at the center of them, we meet some of MacDonald’s most memorable characters. Through them Malcolm must unravel many mysteries that hang over the town and its people—and himself! The Scottish dialect is more impenetrable than in many of MacDonald’s other Scottish novels, and has been translated into readable English in this newly updated edition by MacDonald’s biographer Michael Phillips. Calling it a “masterpiece of plot, drama, mystery, characterization, and spiritual depth,” it was Malcolm which in the 1970s set Phillips on his life’s-work to acquaint the world with MacDonald’s forgotten legacy through new editions of MacDonald’s work. Phillips says, “Malcolm is always an ideal choice for new readers to begin a deeper acquaintance with MacDonald,” especially as it is set in the locale from which The Cullen Collection of new editions derives its name. Phillips’s lengthy informative introduction sets Malcolm’s story colorfully into the context of MacDonald’s two 1870s visits to Cullen. Phillips also provides readers new to the works of MacDonald with a historical overview of the Scotsman’s writing and significance.