LILITH by George MacDonald

Adapted for Modern Readers

Before the White Witch rules over Narnia - before the Lost Boys claim Wendy to be their mother – Mr. Vane steps through the looking-glass into another world. He finds humans who can project their animal-selves. He finds a wise, rough-seeming man, living in the cottage of his luminous wife – Adam and Eve. He discovers a desert country, waiting for the sound of many waters. Within this country, a colony of lost children lives a charmed life, guided by their child-mother. Mr. Vane discovers Lilith, the powerful figure at the center of the story, who is saved at last by a sword that glows with blue flame. In the end, Mr. Vane learns that he must resist temptation, obey Adam, and fulfill his quest, or he can never find his way home. “Lilith” contains themes that were borrowed and expanded by countless other writers – including Lewis Carroll, J.M.Barrie, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L’Engle - as they followed Mr. Vane through the looking-glass into the growing world of fantasy. First published by George MacDonald in 1895, this line-by-line adaptation preserves the spirit of the original story in language that is transparent for modern readers.