10 h 36 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the mirror in your house opens onto a world where your own pride is the greatest danger?
Mr. Vane lives alone in a large inherited house, surrounded by books and silence. Then a strange guardian, Mr. Raven, draws him toward a passage beyond the familiar rooms. A mirror leads into another country, where a talking bird and shifting symbols offer no easy answers.
In George MacDonald's Lilith: A Romance, Vane encounters Lilith, the cruel ruler of Bulika, and the endangered children called the Little Ones. Among them is Lona, whose fate becomes bound to his choices. His journey asks what it costs to insist on having your own way—and what it might mean to let go.
What you’ll discover
- A library beyond the familiar Follow Vane from quiet rooms toward a mirror that opens onto an unknown country.
- A guide full of riddles Meet Mr. Raven, whose patient guidance leaves Vane with difficult questions of his own.
- Power and vulnerable lives Encounter Lilith's cruelty and the Little Ones, who test Vane's courage and care.
- The cost of self-will Explore pride, death, and redemption through a hero who often chooses the wrong path.
- The strange logic of dreams Stay close to Vane's doubts as shifting symbols invite you to look again.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love dreamlike fantasy, parables and quests, and who like a story that wonders about death, freedom, love and growing up.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A mirror opens onto another world
- Freedom begins with choosing what is true
- Regret cannot replace the next step
- Love needs more than good intentions
- Sorrow can be a form of love
- Rescue can nourish what harms others
- Growth means giving yourself away
- The way home leads through yourself
Who’s who
- Mr. VaneA young scholar and heir who steps through a mirror and wants to do some good, though he often acts on pride or fear.
- Mr. RavenThe old librarian and sexton who appears as a bird or a man and guides Vane with riddles.
- MaraThe veiled mistress of a lonely cottage in the desert, who is called the Cat-woman and keeps watch over the sorrowful.
- LonaThe tall, gentle girl who mothers the Little Ones and keeps them safe from becoming giants.
- The Little OnesA tribe of small children who live in an orchard valley, find babies in the wood and fear growing up.
- The PrincessThe beautiful ruler of Bulika, who can change into a spotted leopardess and fears a child's birth.
- The White LeopardessA white, unspotted beast who guards Vane and fights the princess's creature through the city.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Lilith: A Romance in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Lilith: A Romance
by George MacDonald · 1895
A librarian who becomes a raven leads Mr. Vane through a dusty attic mirror into a world of dead sleepers.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“allegory is far from obtrusive, and the story proper both tense and decidedly eerie.”
In short
What would you do if a book kept vanishing from your shelf, and a thin old man in a shiny black coat kept slipping into a closet? That puzzle faces Mr. Vane, a young scholar who has inherited an old estate and its great library.
Lilith: A Romance at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 91,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1895by George MacDonald
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A haunted library hides a door
Vane has finished at Oxford, and he is nearly alone in the world. He inherits an old house with a huge library that fills most of the ground floor. He spends his days reading the history of science.
One gloomy August evening, he glimpses a tall figure reaching toward a shelf, and then a book is missing. The next morning it is back. He sees a slender old man in a long, shiny coat slip through a low closet door into a closet with no other exit. When Vane pulls the door open, nobody is there.
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Which edition is right for me
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Details
- First published
- 1895
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
MacDonald, George. Lilith: A Romance. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/lilith-a-romance.
MacDonald, G. (2026). Lilith: A romance. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lilith-a-romance (Original work published 1895)
MacDonald, George. Lilith: A Romance. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lilith-a-romance.
@book{macdonald2026lilith,
author = {MacDonald, George},
title = {Lilith: A Romance},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lilith-a-romance},
note = {First published 1895}
}
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What is Lilith by George MacDonald about?
A young scholar named Vane follows a ghostly librarian through a mirror into another world. There he meets sleeping dead, child-like Little Ones and a cruel princess, and he learns, through many mistakes, what it means to be alive and free.
Who is Mr. Raven in Lilith?
Mr. Raven is an old librarian from Vane's family past who can take the shape of a raven. He works as a sexton in the other world, digging up worms that become butterflies, and guides Vane with riddles.
Who are the Little Ones in Lilith?
They are small, loving children who live in an orchard valley and find babies in the wood. They never seem to grow older, and they fear that growing might turn them into greedy giants called Bags.
The author
George MacDonald
1824–1905 · Scottish fantasy novelist and minister
George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish writer and Christian minister. Born in Huntly, Scotland, he later lived in England and Italy. He wrote novels, fairy tales, poetry and sermons. His books include Phantastes (1858), At the Back of the North Wind (1871), The Princess and the Goblin (1872) and Lilith (1895).
“The only way to learn where you are is to begin making yourself at home.”
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