Introduction
“The Christmas Party,” by George MacDonald, comprises chapter X of Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood (1867).
MacDonald wrote across multiple genres. First and foremost he was a literary critic presenting lectures and essays on English literature from Anglo-Saxon to Wordsworth, including a pioneering edition of Hamlet. He translated German Romanticist writers such as Novalis. His two volumes of poetry, and multiple volumes of essays on the imagination and other topics were highly regarded. His several books of sermons and on miracles are classics, treasured by the Inklings and still read by many Christians today. In his own time, his Scottish novels and English novels were as popular as those of Charles Dickens. His children’s fantasy and fantasy for adults inspired such writers as Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Chesterton, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engel, and many others.
Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood is his first English novel. A discerning reader may detect many semi-biographical aspects relating to his brief time as a minister in Arundel, West Sussex, located near the south coast of England between Portsmouth and Brighton (see photos of Arundel at the MacDonald Society website: george-macdonald.com/places/arundel.html).
Johannesen Publishing describes Annals as a “Victorian-Era English Novel. Written in the first person about the annals of a Vicar in the town of Marshmallows, recounting his experiences mingled with mystery and romance. Sequels: The Seaboard Parish and The Vicar’s Daughter.”
Michael Phillips describes it as: “set in Arundel on the downs south of London near the coast and site of MacDonald’s first and only pastorate as a newly married clergyman in 1851-53. The MacDonald home of those years and the Congregational Church are still standing in Arundel. This book is wonderfully descriptive of the region, with autobiographical hints of MacDonald’s outlook as a young pastor. The story had first appeared in serialized form in the Sunday Magazine in 1865.”
The chapter extracted in the attached PDF offers a vignette of what it was like for a minister in England at this time to try to nurture his parish members in the genuine hope of the gospel, and specifically, how he used a celebration at Christmas to begin to overcome some of the Victorian boundaries arising from economic class and social convention.
Helpful background for reading this chapter might include three points:
- Oldcastle Hall is the home of the village’s aristocratic family, who might have expected to be customarily the primary focus of the minister’s attentions, particularly at the holidays. How might they have felt about this minister and his holiday party?
- At this point in the novel, Mr Brownrigg’s son is in love with Jane Rogers, but due to Jane’s lower class status Mr Brownrigg has forbidden them to see each other. How do they respond to the party?
- George and Louisa MacDonald’s own hospitality was legendary, for throughout their lives they regularly welcomed and entertained members of all social classes to events in their home, without charge. The MacDonalds’ guests subversively included prominent artists and literary figures side-by-side with politicians and wealthy aristocrats, side-by-side with working class friends and the poor. How is their real-life hospitality reflected in the story?
If you make it through this chapter, lifted out of context, consider reading the entire novel, or the whole Marshmallow trilogy. I enjoy it very much — but if it isn’t your cup of tea, MacDonald offers more than 50 other books to choose from, all of which are out-of-copyright and freely available online.
Below, I’ve indicated some resources for getting to know MacDonald as well as some recommendations for MacDonald titles to begin reading in each of the genres mentioned above.
MacDonald resources — intro’s to MacDonald
To learn more about MacDonald, browse the pages of the George MacDonald Society, george-macdonald.com, and consider these introductory articles and videos by Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson (kirstinjeffreyjohnson.com) and Malcolm Guite (malcolmguite.wordpress.com):
- Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, “The Storyteller,” Christian History 113 (2015), 10-13; this article is part of a special issue devoted to the seven authors collected by the Marion Wade Center at Wheaton College, entitled “Seven Literary Sages.” It is available free at christianhistorymagazine.org.
- Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, “‘Closer to the Spirit of Christ,’ An Introduction to George MacDonald,” YouTube, C. S. Lewis Foundation, youtu.be/E54Cdb1_SSE?si=F9NvFQcTl9baZ6hv. Kirstin explains why any reader of C. S. Lewis will want to become better acquainted with MacDonald.
- Malcolm Guite, “When a Heart is Really Alive,” keynote address for the “George MacDonald and the Prophetic Imagination” bicentennial conference at Wheaton College, May 2024.
- Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, “C. S. Lewis Connected – Imaginative Hospitality,” YouTube, Agora Christi, youtube.com/live/5Biue8BKa3Q?si=BRqRzv1MmS7fmG7Z. Kirstin discusses the practices and subversive implications of the MacDonalds’ hospitality.
- MacDonald bookmarks.
Starting points for reading MacDonald
To read MacDonald, one might wish to start with the following works — I’ve chosen just one or two titles for each genre (sequels where appropriate are indicated on the same line). No two MacDonald readers would suggest the same works. Phantastes (1858) and Lilith (1895), MacDonald’s first and last adult fantasy novels, would probably make the majority of readers’ favorites, for instance, mine included. But I’ve omitted them here because they’re not the most accessible place to start reading MacDonald.
English novels:
- Marshmallows Trilogy: Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood (1867); The Seaboard Parish (1868); The Vicar’s Daughter (1872).
Scottish novels:
- Sir Gibbie (1879)
- What’s Mine’s Mine (1886)
Children’s fantasy:
- The Princess and the Goblin (1872); The Princess and Curdie (1883).
Adult fantasy:
- “The Golden Key,” in The Light Princess (1863)
- Adela Cathcart (1864 or any edition; the selection of fairy stories included in editions after 1882 varies).
Literary criticism:
- “The Imagination: Its Function and Its Culture,” and the other essays in A Dish of Orts (1867).
On Christian faith:
- Unspoken Sermons (1866, 1885, 1889)
- Miracles of Our Lord (1870)
On natural science:
- The Wingfold trilogy: Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876); Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879); There and Back (1890).
- What’s Mine’s Mine (1886).
- Complement these with “The Imagination: Its Function and Its Culture,” in A Dish of Orts (1867).
If you want printed editions of MacDonald’s works, check out the hand-bound editions printed by Johannesen Printing & Publishing. The Scottish novels are available in editions by David Jack featuring parallel columns for MacDonald’s original Doric and the English translation.
