The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Unabridged Fiction. Audiobook from Tantor Media. Originally published in 1871, recorded in 1996. Purchased on Audible.com.

CS Lewis spoke very highly of George Mac Donald. I have recently been reading Mac Donald's book Diary of an Old Soul which is a collection of sonnets, arranged to be read one a day for a year. I am enjoying them. Mac Donald has quite a lot of fiction out there as well, and I thought I would like to give some of them a try as well. This one is a children's book that I plan to pass on to Cara. I think it would make a good read aloud story.

Publisher's summary:
Young Princess Irene is sent to the country to be raised in a half-farmhouse, half-castle located in the side of a mountain. While exploring the top of the castle, Irene becomes lost and inexplicably finds her way to a mystifying and beautiful woman spinning a thread. Princess Irene is drawn to the woman whom she discovers is her great-great-grandmother. But after she returns, her nurse, Lootie, refuses to believe in the old woman's existence, and the young Princess cannot find the way back to her great-great-grandmother.

Days later, while on an outing with Lootie, Princess Irene believes that she detects a Goblin. They meet a young miner, Curdie, who confirms her sighting. Soon Curdie discovers Goblins lurking under the castle that have constructed an evil plot against the king and his palace. Princess Irene's belief in her great-great-grandmother's powers becomes essential as she and Curdie work to foil the sinister Goblin plan. As the Princess tells Curdie, "sometimes you must believe without seeing".

As an aside, I don't think the person who wrote the "publisher's review" on audible has actually read the book. The second paragraph is really not quite in sync with the story.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: The Princess and the Goblin
from amazon.com, click here: The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics - the Essential Collection)