George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and served as a mentor to fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including numerous collections of sermons.

Throughout the 19th century, MacDonald was one of the most beloved Victorian authors in both Great Britain and the United States. He wrote some 50 volumes of novels, poetry, short stories, fantasy, sermons, and essays. His influential body of work placed him alongside his era’s great men of letters, and his following was vast.

Two decades after his death, his books played a pivotal role in leading C.S. Lewis to Christianity. MacDonald thus became the foundational member of Wheaton’s Wade Center “Seven.” His writings can be seen as the spiritual soil out of which the faith of C.S. Lewis emerged, providing the imaginative foundation for Lewis’s later works, including The Chronicles of Narnia.

Despite his own popularity, the spiritual roots of Lewis’s faith remain largely unknown. C.S. Lewis frequently acknowledged his debt to MacDonald, whom he called his “master.” Lewis wrote: “I dare not say that he is never in error; but… I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer… to the Spirit of Christ Himself… I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master, indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.”

In spite of such a following, MacDonald’s reputation gradually declined throughout the 20th century. However, interest in his works began to resurge in the 1970s and 1980s, largely due to the efforts of MacDonald redactor and biographer Michael Phillips. Now, thousands worldwide are discovering why Madeleine L’Engle called George MacDonald “the grandfather of us all—all of us who struggle to come to terms with truth through imagination.”