The Water of the Wondrous Isles

The Water of the Wondrous Isles is a fantasy novel by William Morris. Stolen as a child and raised in the wood of Evilshaw as servant to a witch, Birdalone ultimately escapes in her captress's magical boat, in which she travels to a succession of strange and wonderful islands. Among these is the Isle of Increase Unsought, an island cursed with boundless production, which Morris intended as a parallel of contemporary Britain and a vehicle for his socialistic beliefs.