Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald is a seminal work of fantasy literature that follows Anodos, a young man who, on his 21st birthday, discovers a fairy in an old secretary desk once owned by his father. He is transported from his mundane life into Fairy Land, a dreamlike realm where his bedroom literally transforms into a forest.
Anodos is transported into a vibrant, perilous Fairy Land, where he journeys through forests, castles, and his own conscience. Guided by ethereal sprites and haunted by his own dark shadow, he searches for an ideal of perfect beauty, learning that love requires the painful, necessary surrender of the self.
Phantastes is considered one of the first 'portal fantasies' and established MacDonald as the Grandfather of Modern Fantasy.