The fantasy writer who influenced G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and many others, George MacDonald, is coming to radio:
W. H. Auden wrote, "To me, George MacDonald's most extraordinary, and precious, gift is his ability, in all his stories, to create an atmosphere of goodness about which there is nothing phony or moralistic. Nothing is rarer in literature."
Above all for At the Back of the North Wind, we wanted to underscore that–as Colin Duriez asserts–it is a story of two worlds, natural and supernatural: "It vividly portrays the 'real' world of Victorian London, but into it, MacDonald shows the other real world that we do not normally see, constantly flowing into it, bringing out the real meaning of everyday events, people and things."
Our challenge was to establish MacDonald's two worlds in audio terms, so that the little boy driving with his coachman father through the very real streets of London is the same boy who is caught up into the heavens with the enigmatic North Wind. These two worlds intertwine: North Wind carries Diamond through the London skies during a storm, pointing out a little girl in distress and giving the boy an opportunity to help her.
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