The Baronet’s Song (originally called: Sir Gibbie) by George MacDonald *****

*Click the title of this entry to go to a webpage with the whole book on it*

This is one of my all time favourite books. It was published in the US in the year of my birth and I knew it growing up as The Baronet’s Song. My mother gave it to me as a child. I fell in love with the Scottish accents and the young mute boy by the name of Gibbie. He’s the first literary character I remember having a serious crush on, truth be told.

I thought of it today because I was writing a critique for a friend of mine and for the first four pages his main character did not speak, even when spoken to. I loved it. I thought, at last somebody has written another story using the same sort of issues that the “Wee Sir Gibbie” had. Turns out, my friend’s character does speak, but is a man of few words.

Anyhow, I went online to see what I could find of my dearly beloved book and found the website I have linked into the title. If you click on it you will be taken to an online copy of the book. MacDonald was an inspiration to many authors we know and love today (like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L’Engle, and W.H. Auden to name a few) though he’s been somewhat forgotten by current readers. I recommend that people read his writing, though some may struggle with the musical Scottish accents (yes, they are written in). All of his books are well worth the read and for the humanity they remind us of and the warmth they bring to the heart.