Far Above Rubies

The nineteenth-century Scottish author gives readers a fictionalized self portrait of his youth—plus recollections of him by his son in From a Northern Window.

MacDonald’s final “novella” of a scant 22,000 words was viewed as so insignificant at the time of its release in 1898 that it never appeared in book form in the U.K and is omitted from many lists of MacDonald’s books. Though appearing in magazine form in Britain, its only book edition was published in the United States. For those with eyes to see, however, it reads as an autobiographical retrospective of the beginning of MacDonald’s own writing life. Though revealing a poignant final glimpse of MacDonald’s waning energy and craft, the significance of its portrait of a struggling youthful author is delightful. Shortly after its writing, what appeared to be a stroke silenced the pen of this remarkable literary genius and man of God. Included in this new edition of Far Above Rubies is Ronald MacDonald’s memorable portrait of his father from 1910, From a Northern Window.