The Water of the Wondrous Isles

Description

The Water of the Wondrous Isles is a fantasy novel by William Morris, first published in 1897. It is the story of Birdalone, who is stolen as a child from her weaver mother and grows up in the wood of Evilshaw as a servant to a witch. Eventually, with the help of the nature spirit Habundia, Birdalone escapes in a magical boat, and begins her journey of travels to some strange islands including the Isle of Increase Unsought. Along her journey, she meets three maidens who are being held prisoner by another witch, and who are waiting to be rescued by their loves. Birdalone goes out to meet these men and together, they set out to rescue the maidens, with varying results. Throughout the first part of the novel, the main character is naked, which for Victorian literature was a very unusual detail to include.

This book has 147,836 words, 282 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1897.

Production notes: This ebook of The Water of the Wondrous Isles was published by Global Grey on the 19th July 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'The Butterfly' by John Collier.