According to C S Lewis everything he wrote was influenced by the genius of George MacDonald Lewis said I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer or more continually close to the Spirit of Christ Himself Writing a preface and selecting MacDonald s most poignant passages Lewis introduces us to these extraordinary treasures Ranging from Inexorable Love to The Torment of Death these words will instruct and uplift George MacDonald 1824 1905 was a popular Scottish lecturer and writer of novels poetry and fairy tales Born in Aberdeenshire he was briefly a clergyman then a proefessor of English literature at Bedford and King s College in London