The water of the Wondrous isles2012

<p><i>The Water of the Wondrous Isles</i> is a landmark in fantasy fiction. First published a year after <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-morris">Morris’s</a> death in 1897 by Kelmscott Press—Morris’s own printing company—the novel follows Birdalone, a young girl who is stolen as a baby by a witch who takes her to serve in the woods of Evilshaw.</p> <p>After she encounters a wood fairy that helps her escape the witch’s clutches, Birdalone embarks on a series of adventures across the titular Wondrous Isles. These isles are used by Morris both as parables for contemporary Britain and as vehicles for investigating his radical socialist beliefs. As Birdalone travels through the isles she slowly evolves into the embodiment of the Victorian “new woman,” embracing hard...