5 h 37 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 37 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Beyond an unhappy home lies a wood where beauty commands, cruelty keeps watch, and freedom comes at a cost.
Walter, a merchant's son from Langton, leaves a failed marriage and sails toward strange shores. Before his journey begins, three figures catch his eye: a beautiful Lady, the young woman who serves her, and a cruel Dwarf. Beyond the sea, their presence draws him into a world of forests and old magic.
In William Morris's The Wood Beyond the World, the Maid longs to escape the Lady's power. Walter chooses to help her, but the Lady's charm conceals a hunger to rule, and the Dwarf watches closely. This prose romance sets love and freedom against the desire to possess another person.
What you’ll discover
- A road beyond home Follow Walter from the life he leaves behind toward strange shores and a deepening wilderness.
- Beauty with a threat Meet a commanding Lady whose charm hides her need to hold others in her power.
- A captive with courage Discover the Maid, whose gentleness and bravery stand against the bondage that confines her.
- An older tale's rhythm Settle into formal, antique language with the feel of medieval sagas and tales of chivalry.
- The cost of freedom Explore how love and desire become tangled with the power one person holds over another.
Who will love it
For readers who love fairy tales, medieval romance and the roots of modern fantasy, and who enjoy language with an antique flavor.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A restless man leaves his unhappy home
- Three strange figures appear at the harbor
- Walter reaches the wild lands and the wood
- The Lady, the Maid and a secret bondage
- Flight and the people of the north
- Freedom, desire and the plain old style
Who’s who
- WalterA merchant's son from Langton, hurt by a failed marriage, who sails abroad and chooses to help a captive stranger.
- The MaidA gentle and brave young woman held in service to the Lady, who longs to be free.
- The LadyA beautiful and commanding woman of the wood whose charm hides a hunger to rule others.
- The DwarfThe Lady's cruel servant, who watches the Maid closely and guards his mistress's will.
- The Bear-folkA hardy northern people whom the travelers meet, with their own customs, halls and ruler.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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El bosque más allá del mundo
by William Morris · 1894
Walter sails from an unhappy home into a land of old magic, where he risks danger to help a captive maid find freedom.
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In short
The Wood Beyond the World is a prose romance by William Morris, first published in 1894, two years before his death. Morris was a poet, designer and socialist, and he wrote this book near the end of his life.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A restless man leaves his unhappy home
The hero is Walter, a young man from the town of Langton. His father is a merchant, and Walter is meant to follow a settled life. But his marriage has brought him no joy. His wife has been unfaithful, and the knowledge sits in him like a stone.
Morris does not dwell long on this sorrow. He uses it to set the mood and to explain why Walter is ready to go. A man who feels bound and betrayed will take a chance that a happier man would refuse. The reader meets him as someone half looking for escape and half looking for something he cannot name.
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What is The Wood Beyond the World about?
It follows Walter, a merchant's son who leaves an unhappy life, sails to a distant land and meets a lady, a dwarf and a captive maid. He then risks danger to help the maid find freedom.
When was The Wood Beyond the World written?
William Morris published it in 1894, near the end of his life. It is a work of invention, not a true story, and is set in an imagined medieval world with no real dates.
Is The Wood Beyond the World the first fantasy novel?
Many critics call it one of the earliest modern fantasy novels, because it is set in a wholly invented world with no link to ours. It influenced later authors such as Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
The author
William Morris
1834–1896 · English poet and designer
William Morris (1834–1896) was an English writer, textile designer, artist, and printer. He was born in Walthamstow and died in London. His books include The House of the Wolfings (1889), News from Nowhere (1890), and The Well at the World's End (1896). He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891.
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