SHADOWS AND CHIVALRY studies the influence of George MacDonald, a nineteenth-century Scottish novelist and fantasy writer, upon one of the most influential writers of modern times, C. S. Lewis - the creator of Narnia, literary critic, and best-selling apologist. While other books, quoting Lewis himself, have only mentioned the fact that Lewis called MacDonald his "master," and that MacDonald's Phantastes helped "baptize" Lewis's imagination, this study attempts to trace the overall effect of MacDonald's work on Lewis's thought and imagination. Without ever ceasing to be a story of one man's influence upon another, the study also serves as an exploration of each writer's thought on, and literary visions of, good and evil. Lastly, using the metaphor of chivalry, McInnis looks at what Lewis and MacDonald believed to be greater than either suffering or hell: the severe and tender Love who longs to save.

"By far the most penetrating and exhaustive study that I have seen of the origin in George MacDonald's writings of so many of C. S. Lewis's ideas. Jeff McInnis's sensitive and highly informed judgments greatly enrich our understanding of their imaginative and devotional achievement. A genuinely enriching read for any earnest Christian mind."

Rolland Hein, Professor Emeritus, Wheaton College

Author of Through the Year with George MacDonald

"Jeff McInnis has written a book that henceforth will be indispensable to all students of C. S. Lewis who seek to understand the oft-mentioned but till now not fully fathomed debt of his literary and theological imagination to George MacDonald. His well conceived study has the further benefit of doing considerable justice to the angular graces of MacDonald's anti-Calvinistic under standing of redemption. McInnis's chapter on "The Chivalry of God" finds an indispensable key to this great, but out-of-time conversation between two lay theologians of enduring interest and literary power."

David Lyle Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University

Author of Christianity and Literature: Philosophical Foundations and Critical Practice

Jeff McInnis (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is Professor of English at Panola College in Carthage, Texas.

In 1880, George MacDonald, the Scottish poet, novelist and preacher, in the wake of the deaths of two of his children, published A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul . This book, which unites grief and hope in hard-won faith, contains a poem for every day of the year. In the first edition of this classic collection there was a blank page opposite each page of poems. Readers were invited to write their own reflections on the "white page." MacDonald wrote: "Let your white page be ground, my print be seed, growing to golden ears, that faith and hope may feed." _._._._ Betty Aberlin, a native New Yorker of Russian-Jewish ancestry, raised in post-Holocaust orthodox atheism and nurtured in the arts, responded to MacDonald's invitation with daily poems of her own. Following the strict poetic form of The Diary of an Old Soul was an illuminating experience. In her own 7-line, 3-rhyme, 10-syllable pattern, Aberlin created a unique mixture of recurring themes and images drawing from Judaism, Christianity and her experiences as an actress and artist. Her vision is fresh and honest, revealing a keen observation of nature and human nature, from the exhilarations of faith, hope and love to the despairs of war, rejection and failure. Aberlin opens a path into spiritual reflection for the thoughtful reader to follow. _._._._ Here are a few of the accolades for The White Page Poems: _._._._ "In this labor of love, Betty Aberlin's close readings of George MacDonald's verses, and her thoughtful responses to them speak clearly of her poetic gifts and spiritual intelligence." Luci Shaw, poet and author. _._._._ "An awesome collection and collaboration." Daniel Berrigan, SJ, poet-in-residence, Fordham University. _._._._ "A fascinating new book . . . fresh and incisive." Don King, author of C.S. Lewis, Poet.