{"product_id":"the-water-of-the-wondrous-isles-1","title":"The Water of the Wondrous Isles","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Water of the Wondrous Isles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWilliam Morris\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Water\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWondrous Isles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a landmark in fantasy fiction. First published a year after \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMorris\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e's death in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e1897\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e by Kelmscott Press-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMorris\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e's own printing company-the novel follows Birdalone, a young girl who is stolen as a baby by a witch who takes her to serve in the woods of Evilshaw.After she encounters a wood fairy that helps her escape the witch's clutches, Birdalone embarks on a series of adventures across the titular \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWondrous Isles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. These isles are used by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMorris\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e both as parables for contemporary Britain and as vehicles for investigating his radical socialist beliefs. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Birdalone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e travels through the isles she slowly evolves into the embodiment of the Victorian \"new woman,\" embracing hard physical labor, healthy exercise, higher education, socialist values, and financial freedom, while rejecting sexual exploitation, physical abuse of both women and children, and the restrictive sexual mores of the era. This makes her unique in the fantasy fiction of the era as one of the genre's first examples of a strong female hero.This socialist-feminist allegory is presented in an Arthurian-style fantasy world complete with magic, witches, fairies, knights both chivalrous and evil, and castles (indeed, anyone doubting the allegorical nature of the work only needs to look at the name of the tale's main redoubt: \"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Castle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e of the Quest\"). The language is purposefully archaic, reveling in vocabulary drawn from the language's Anglo roots; and the prose is lent a hypnotic quality by its lack of quotation marks to offset dialog, and its short chapters characterized by a fairy-tale-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003enarrative\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e voice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books Prime","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45914388725951,"sku":"9a9b99dd-a7d9-4a8d-b670-60916f9eb1cc","price":42.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/7550\/7647\/files\/9c9e17e3455fd792bd92a5a1b258152a.jpg?v=1785057613","url":"https:\/\/books-prime.com\/products\/the-water-of-the-wondrous-isles-1","provider":"Books Prime","version":"1.0","type":"link"}