The Princess and the Goblin

George MacDonald, 1872

Children's classics

A young princess explores a mountain household above a dangerous underground world.

Read the book Contents

Length: 32 chapters
Reading time: About 3 hr 33 min
Words: 50,620

About the book

Princess Irene lives in a large mountain house, while mines and natural caverns extend beneath the surrounding country. A wet day and a child's boredom offer an ordinary beginning to a fairy tale in which the familiar house contains unexplored possibilities.

MacDonald addresses readers directly, mixing playful commentary with the construction of his imagined world. The contrast between spaces above and below ground helps organise the adventure. Curiosity matters, but so do trust and the limits of what any one person can see or explain to somebody else.

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Children's classics

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. George MacDonald died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.