The story follows Tom in his land-life as a climbing boy for a chimney-sweep and in his after-life as a water-baby, where he gains redemption from selfishness as well as from drudgery. On to this fantasy Kingsley grafts a series of digressions and comic asides, through which he comments on a range of contemporary issues. Kingsley ostensibly wrote The Water-Babies for his infant son, but its erratic flights of fancy are liable to take it beyond the immediate comprehension of adults and children alike. Often seen as an attack on the exploitation of child labour, it is rather a heterogeneous commentary on Kingsley's life and times. He writes with vibrant and humorous symbolism, fierce satire, and uninhibited imagination. This is the first edition to explore fully Kingsley's text, its variants, and its iconography, and to annotate the many references which enrich the story.
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