This new edition of George MacDonald's 1879 sequel to Thomas Wingfold Curate, the second in the trilogy, is updated and introduced by Michael Phillips as Volume 21 in The Cullen Collection.

In this second of the Thomas Wingfold “trilogy,” atheist Paul Faber, encountering spiritually invigorated minister Wingfold, finds himself unexpectedly drawn into his own unwelcome quest for truth. Now it is Wingfold—assisted by Polwarth—sharing his newfound faith with both Paul Faber and Juliet Meredith, whose past secrets draw them together yet also threaten to tear them apart.

Of MacDonald’s unique characters, one stands alone—Paul Faber, the surgeon of fictional Glaston. He is the only skeptic, unbeliever, and atheist to take the spotlight as a featured title character. The relationship between Thomas Wingfold, the curate, and his atheist friend, gives us a vivid picture of George MacDonald’s perspective on how the life of Christ is most effectively communicated into an unbelieving world: it is conveyed by the way Christians live.

The two Wingfold “sequels”—this novel along with There and Back, explore many salvationary themes—sin, goodness, repentance, hypocrisy, and the role of intellectual honesty in spirituality—not merely with insight and wisdom, but with logical and thoughtful profundity.

 

341 pages