I have great appreciation for all George MacDonald's books because of the depth of their meaning - including this one. Although this book does require referring to the interpretation of the Scottish language written in the glossary in the back, I am enough familiar with the language that it did'nt disrupt my reading much. I found the book well worth the effort.

I had a difficult time with the three books by MacDonald because they are all written in a Scottish brogue. In order to fully understand what the characters are saying, you would have to stop reading and look the word(s) up in the considerable glossary at the back of the book. I started all three books, but then put them down because of the difficulty I encountered trying to translate as I went along. If the reader is familiar with the language, I'm sure it would be an enjoyable read.