This novel was one of J.R.R. Tolkien's childhood favorites. Though George MacDonald's stories are based on some of the themes and characteristic attributes of classical European fairy tales, he has replaced meaningless and ghoulish plots with a layer of Christian reference. Here, the eight-year-old Princess Irene lives in a mountaintop castle above a colony of underground goblins who are planning to overthrow the King, her father. She has discovered that at the top of the palace stairs lives a mysterious woman who is her great great grandmother. No one else knows about her, and nobody believes the Princess. She meets thirteen-year-old Curdie, a miner's son, who has come upon the goblins and knows of their evil plot. Images of burning roses and mysterious fires are the hints of danger, but Curdie is determined to protect the people he loves. He slowly becomes aware that sometimes "you must believe without seeing." When the strength of an invisible thread--strong like prayer--leads the Princess to her grandmother's arms, Curdie's wonder is awakened. In other fairy tales any worldly wisdom is associated with the elders, but in this story the innocent children are wise. Please Note: This book has been reformatted to be easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.