Jennifer Trafton, If Only We Could See: Reimagining Creativity, Compassion, and Calling Through the Extraordinary Life of Lilias Trotter (Brentwood, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2026).
Publisher’s description:
In the late 19th century, Lilias Trotter stood at the threshold of artistic fame, her extraordinary talent praised by the renowned critic John Ruskin. Yet, at the height of her promise, she made a radical choice that would define the course of her life. Turning away from worldly recognition and social convention, she forged her own path—one that led her through the roughest streets of London and, ultimately, to the deserts of North Africa. There, her artistic and spiritual journeys intertwined as she expanded the many-colored canvas of her creativity to embrace not only the sweeping vistas of the Sahara, but also the lives of the Arab people she loved.
Blending biography, personal engagement, and theological reflection, Trafton takes readers on an intimate journey with Lily as her friends knew her – a visionary who saw the world with an artist’s eye and a missionary’s heart, and whose imaginative empathy and creative compassion transformed the lives of those she encountered. More than the story of one remarkable woman, this book is an invitation to experience the beauty of creation with fresh wonder, to look at our neighbors through new lenses, and to discover what “beautiful possible life” awaits each one of us as we follow the call of the Divine Artist.
From Kerry Magruder:
By any measure, this book is a milestone in MacDonald studies. There is no index, but MacDonald comes into view in practically every chapter. Studies of MacDonald in literary, theological, and social contexts are only enhanced by a greater understanding of MacDonald’s influence upon others in various spheres of life.
In the current issue of North Wind, John McNeill documents a letter from Lilias Trotter to George MacDonald recounting her reading of The Seaboard Parish: “At Eveningtime It Shall Be Light: George MacDonald’s Influence on Lilias Trotter,” North Wind 43, no. 3 (2026): Article 3.
In this beautiful book, Trafton crafts brilliant meditations upon Trotter’s life. She observes how Trotter’s own story interweaves with the plot of The Seaboard Parish. In this regard see especially the chapters entitled “Crimson,” “Blue,” and “Green.”
Trafton illumines the leading characteristics of MacDonald’s sacramental approach to nature and art and how we learn to observe with an ‘inward eye.’ Artists and scientists alike help us to see what we did not see before. In the chapter entitled ‘Green,’ Trafton shows how these understandings enabled both MacDonald and Trotter to respond to questions raised by 19th-century science.
I recommend no MacDonald reader go without reading this book. I will savor my dog-eared copy for years to come. For decades hence, many will come to MacDonald through Trafton’s heartening account of Lilias Trotter. (More)