The Day Boy and the Night Girl, George MacDonald
The Day Boy and the Night Girl, George MacDonald
List: $14.95 | Sale: $10.47
Club: $7.47

The Day Boy and the Night Girl

Author: George MacDonald

Narrator: Daniel Koehn

Unabridged: 1 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/20/2025

Synopsis

The With an introduction by Michael Phillips.George MacDonald once declared, "I do not write for children, but for the childlike, whether of five, or 50, or 75."The Day Boy and the Night Girl is a splendid example of such writing. With words of wonder, beauty, and adventure, and with acute spiritual insight and sensitivity, MacDonald spins an enchanting tale of two children, a boy and a girl, who grow up from infancy in the castle of a witch. Unaware of each other's presence in the castle, the children are victims of an unnatural design upon them, in which the boy is never to know the night, and the girl is never to know the day. The boy is therefore scrupulously compelled to be indoors before sunset. And the girl is locked away in the dim, forlorn chambers carved in the rock beneath the castle. It is not until they reach adolescence that the two meet, quite unexpectedly, and quickly become aware that they must rely on one another if they are ever to escape the cruel and violent fury of the witch.

About George MacDonald

George MacDonald was a prolific author of both children's and adult books, including such classics as At the Back of the North Wind, The Princess and the Goblin, Lilith, and Phantastes. His works were the inspiration for later writers, including G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

A consummate Scotsman, MacDonald was born on December 10, 1824, in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. He was ordained as a congregationalist minister in 1845 and became a pastor at Arundel. This appointment did not last long, as he soon came into conflict with his parishioners and church because of his belief in purgatory and that all people eventually came into heaven, even animals.

In 1852, MacDonald married Louisa Powell, with whom he had six sons and five daughters. He was forced to resign from his church position in 1853, and after a brief sojourn in Algiers for the sake of his health, he became a freelance preacher, lecturer, and writer. His literary breakthrough came in 1855 with the publication of the narrative poem Within and Without. In the two decades that followed, he gained increasing fame and success with his children's books but was never able to earn enough money to support his family. Luckily, in 1877 he was granted a pension at the request of Queen Victoria.

MacDonald died on September 21, 1905, in Scotland.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nicholas on May 20, 2024

In a distant land, a witch named Watho desired to know everything. In order to do this, she decided to mold and shape two different souls from birth into young adulthood. She brings a beautiful young woman named Aurora to her castle and lets stay in a sunlit room. She also brings Vesper, a poor, bli......more

Goodreads review by Suzannah Rowntree on July 24, 2020

Gorgeous, and a beautiful parable of the sexes with so many wonderful layers of meaning. Naturally I have been meaning to read this for many years, but it got bumped to the top of my to-read list because a friend is about to release a retelling! Please feast your eyes upon this GORGEOUS THING: ackpet......more

Goodreads review by Paul on February 08, 2014

I was reminded almost immediately the parallel between Plato's Allegory of the Cave and this story, in particular the character Nycteris, raised from birth in a dark dungeon with nothing but a single dim lamp to light her tiny world. In contrast the boy Photogen is raised exclusively in the day whi......more

Goodreads review by Tiara on February 13, 2016

Read more reviews @ The Bibliosanctum MacDonald has been credited with being the inspiration for other “Christian Mythmakers” such as Tolkien and L’Engle. Thid story in particular is seen as some of his best work. Despite the publisher, this is not a book that is about religion (but you can catch som......more

Goodreads review by Lovely Day on October 08, 2025

4.25⭐️ A story of a witch who acquires 2 babies through ill-gotten means and raises the boy in ALL lightness and the girl in ALL darkness. When these two grow up they accidentally meet and a forbidden friendship blossoms.......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List