The Flight of the Shadow

“I am old, else, I think, I should not have the courage to tell the story I am going to tell.”

Thus begins the tale of “Orbie”, a young orphan girl brought up by her uncle, who is also her best friend and tutor. The easy-flowing idyll of their domestic life is overhung by a secret, unguessed at by Orbie, but soon to enwrap both herself, her companion, and the handsome stranger whose appearance sets many strange events in motion…

First published in 1891, the short novel The Flight of the Shadow was one of George MacDonald’s last works of fiction, and one of only a few to be told from the perspective of a female narrator. It combines an atmosphere of myth and realism, deals with themes of psychology, and filial and romantic love—and, like the fantasy masterpiece Lilith, explores the corruptive lust for power alongside the redemptive work of childlike innocence and faith.