Thematically linked to Mary Marston which preceded it, MacDonald here poignantly depicts the father-son relationship as he had earlier that of father and daughter. MacDonald’s storytelling power again returns to the highlands of Scotland, setting his narrative in the hills south of Huntly. We encounter vivid descriptions of that wild terrain, including snowstorms, summer joys, harvests, along with MacDonald’s trademark mysteries, inheritances, treasures, and, of course, romance. Castle Warlock is one of the most thoroughly Scottish of MacDonald's novels, and is a favorite with many for its spiritual, relational, and natural splendor. Castle Warlock is unique among MacDonald’s titles, being first published in America in 1881, six months in advance of its British counterpart of 1882. This new edition by MacDonald biographer Michael Phillips streamlines the occasionally ponderous Victorian narrative style, and updates the thick Doric brogue into readable English.

This 1877 sequel to Malcolm begins where the first volume of the doublet left off, at Lossie House in Cullen’s fictionalized Portlossie. Soon thereafter Malcolm travels to London to rescue Florimel from the harmful influences of duplicitous friends who do not have her best interests in mind. Kidnapping her out of London, Malcolm’s and Florimel’s return to the north coast of Scotland brings to a stirring climax the divergent threads of mystery and intrigue woven through this triumphant literary tapestry. It is a classic Victorian romance, complete with rogues, inheritances, castles, and of course true love. Of The Marquis of Lossie, Michael Phillips says, “Escaping a common pitfall of sequels not measuring up to the level of excellence of their predecessor, MacDonald crafts an equally engaging, and in some ways an even heightened dramatic crescendo to Malcolm’s story. With the setting so altered, this is a spectacular creative achievement.”

This magnificant 1883 sequel to Sir Gibbie, and MacDonald's longest book, is a novel with everything—a Gothic castle with hidden rooms and passageways, good guys and bad guys, mysteries and inheritances. and poignant yet bittersweet love. Little does Gibbie’s friend Donal realize what he is in for when he takes a tutoring job at mysterious Castle Graham! Woven throughout, of course, are many signature tunes of MacDonald’s wisdom and spiritual insight, including one of C.S. Lewis’s favorite MacDonald lines, that God is “easy to please but hard to satisfy.” Along with Malcolm, Donal Grant presents one of MacDonald's most intricate and riveting plots, led by another of his stellar characters of virtue and truth. Its massive length, however (786 pages in the original), difficult Scots dialect, and numerous digressive tangents, illustrate better than any MacDonald title the need for condensed contemporary editions. Donal Grant is unique in the MacDonald corpus as being originally released in two different editions in Great Britain and America. This updated edition by Michael Phillips, which Phillips ranks as one of his favorite MacDonald titles, epitomizes the value and significance of The Cullen Collection in bringing the fiction of George MacDonald alive for new generations.