At the Back of the North Wind

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At the Back of the North Wind
Author	George McDonald
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's novels
Publication date	1871

At the Back of the North Wind is a children's book by George MacDonald, published in 1871. It is a fantasy centered around a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. Diamond travels together with the mysterious Lady North Wind through the nights.

[edit] Plot introduction

North Wind is helping people, yet she is also doing terrible things. So she sinks a ship. Yet everything leads to something good. North Wind seems to be Pain and Death working according to God's will for something good. North Wind brings Diamond for some days in the country at her back, a country without pain and death. Yet he was brought only in a shadow of the real country at the back of the North Wind. The real country is open for him only after his death. He dies at the end of the book.

MacDonald is touching in this book many theological and philosophical questions, especially concerning the theodicy. It is one of his masterpieces.

According to MacDonald's son and biographer Greville MacDonald there are many similarities between Diamond and MacDonald's son Maurice who died rather young. An interesting thing about Diamond is his Christ-likeness. He is always trying to help. He seems not to belong to this world.

It includes the fairy tale Little Daylight, which has been pulled out as an independent work, or to be added to other collections of his fairy tales.

[edit] Abridged editions

In 1914, a version "Simplified for Children" by Elizabeth Lewis was published by Lippincott. This newer version shortened the original length of approx. 89,339 words to 27,605 words. It was illustrated by Maria L. Kirk.