The novel was initially printed in 1897 by Morris' own Kelmscott Press on vellum and artisanal paper in a blackletter type of his own design.
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 parable of contemporary Britain and a vehicle for his socialistic beliefs.
Equally radical, during much of the first quarter of the novel, Birdalone is naked, a highly unusual detail in Victorian fiction.
Birdalone is clad by the maidens and seeks out their heroes, and the story goes into high gear as they set out to rescue the women.