The children of the castle
by Mary Louisa Molesworth, Mrs Molesworth & Walter Crane (Illustrator)
- First published:
- 19th century
- Language: English
- Content type: FictionJuvenile
"The Children of the Castle" by Mrs. Molesworth is a children's novel written in the early 20th century. The story centers around twin sisters, Ruby and Mavis, who live in a castle by the sea, exploring themes of childhood wonder, imagination, and the contrasts between their differing personalities. As they navigate their daily lives, their interactions with the mysterious environment surrounding them hint at deeper connections to magic and adventure. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to Ruby and Mavis, who are living with their cousin Hortensia in a grand castle that has both foreboding and gracious sides. The narrative begins with a sense of nostalgia as the story reflects on past adventures and rich imaginations of the children. Ruby is portrayed as the more outgoing and vivacious of the two, while Mavis is often more thoughtful and shy. The opening chapters describe their exploration of the castle and its grounds, hinting at encounters that weave the normality of their lives with hints of magic, particularly through their connection with a boy named Winfried and the mysterious figure of old Adam, whose home is shrouded in tales of wonder and magic. As Ruby and Mavis venture outside, their journey becomes an invitation to discover friendships, folklore, and the enchanting elements of their world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Provenance
Why this book is in the catalog
Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Legendary beings and transformations and Ritual magic and grimoires.
Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary-historical and project-gutenberg matched “Magic” and “magic”. Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the description and “Magic” in the subject metadata.
- “Magic”· via Open Library
- “magic”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Magic”· in description
- “Magic”· in subject
Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary-historical and project-gutenberg matched “Fairies” and “fairies”. Retained metadata contains “Fairies” in the subject metadata.
- “Fairies”· via Open Library
- “fairies”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Fairies”· in subject
Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.
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Editions
Open Library reports 4 editions; 2 cataloged here.
| Edition | Date | Publisher | Language | ISBN | Access | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Open Library record | 1890 | Macmillan | English | — | No ebook | |
Project Gutenberg electronic edition Project Gutenberg metadata does not identify the source print edition. | 2013-07-08 | Project Gutenberg | English | — | Public domain (USA) |
Subjects
Identifiers & provenance
How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.
Identifiers
- Open Library work
- Project Gutenberg
Cataloged from
- Open LibraryOL6566366W (opens in a new tab)
- Project Gutenberg43126 (opens in a new tab)
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Cataloging notes
- Open Library reports 4 editions; this snapshot catalogs one representative edition and preserves work-level ISBN, date, and publisher aggregates.
- Original print publication date and source edition are absent from Project Gutenberg metadata.
- Catalog id
- openlibrary-work:OL6566366W
- Edition coverage
- Multi source partial
- Retrieved







