''Alec Forbes of Howglen'' is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carrol ...

, first published in 1865, and is primarily concerned with Scottish country life.

Synopsis

The 'Howglen' described in the novel is probably a reference to George MacDonald's childhood home in

Huntly, Scotland Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith a ...

, 'The Farm.' The 'Glamour' river, on which the town of the novel is situated, has been immortalized in the names of modern-day streets in Huntly, as well as a children's park near the site of the old MacDonald family Mill. Much of the original novel is written in the Doric, a dialect of North East Scotland. A subsequent edition "translates into readable English the heaviest portions of the Scots dialect in which most of MacDonald’s Scottish stories are written."

Literary significance and criticism

#No account of this story would give any idea of the profound interest that pervades the work from the first page to the last. — Athenæum #A novel of uncommon merit, Sir Walter Scott said he would advise no man to try to read ' Clarissa Harlowe' out loud in company if he wished to keep his character for manly superiority to tears. We fancy a good many hardened old novel-readers will feel a rising in the throat as they follow the fortunes of Alec and Annie. -

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

. #This book is full of good thought and good writing. Dr. Mac Donald looks in his stories more to the souls of men and women than to their social outside. He reads life and nature like a true poet. —Examiner #The whole story is one of surpassing excellence and beauty." —Daily News #''Alec Forbes''...is very enjoyable, and the character of Annie Anderson is one of the most delightful I have ever met with in fiction. —

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures ...

References

External links

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''Alec Forbes of Howglen''
(Ebook - PDF format) 1865 British novels Novels by George MacDonald Novels set in Aberdeenshire {{1860s-novel-stub