Places in the works of Madeleine L'Engle
Encyclopedia
Madeleine L'Engle
has published more than fifty books, including twenty-three novels, virtually all of them interconnected by recurring characters and locales. In particular, L'Engle's three major series have a consistent geography, including a number of significant fictional locations. These generally fall into two categories:
Major fictional locations in L'Engle's novels include the following places, grouped by the series in which they appear.
They also stop briefly on an unnamed two-dimensional
planet and on an unnamed planet in Orion's belt
, the latter of which is the home of the Happy Medium.
do not fit neatly into either of the above two categories.
near the unnamed hospital
where Calvin works. By the time of The Arm of the Starfish
, about twelve to thirteen years later, the family has settled on the first of two fictional islands. Calvin, Charles and Polly also travel to other places in some of the novels.
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
has published more than fifty books, including twenty-three novels, virtually all of them interconnected by recurring characters and locales. In particular, L'Engle's three major series have a consistent geography, including a number of significant fictional locations. These generally fall into two categories:
- Fictionalized versions of real locations, such as the homes of the Murry and Austin families. They are usually based on actual places L'Engle has lived.
- Exotic locations in other countries, on other planets and elsewhere, usually with a symbolSymbolA symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ic name that relates to a major feature of the locale. These places help to illustrate the themesTheme (literature)A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
of their respective novels.
Major fictional locations in L'Engle's novels include the following places, grouped by the series in which they appear.
On Earth
- The Murry farmhouse - Somewhere in ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Starting and ending point for each of the books in the Time QuartetTime QuartetThe Time Quartet/Quintet is a fantasy/science fiction series of five young adult novels written by Madeleine L'Engle.Those novels are:*A Wrinkle in Time , , ISBN 0-374-38613-7*A Wind in the Door , ISBN 0-374-38443-6...
, plus An Acceptable TimeAn Acceptable TimeAn Acceptable Time is a 1989 young adult science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the last of her books to feature Polyhymnia O'Keefe, better known as Poly or Polly ,...
. The Murry farmhouseFarmhouseFarmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
, nearly two centuriesCenturyA century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
old as of A Wrinkle in TimeA Wrinkle in TimeA Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1962. The story revolves around a young girl whose father, a government scientist, has gone missing after working on a mysterious project called a tesseract. The book won a Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and...
, contains a pantryPantryA pantry is a room where food, provisions or dishes are stored and served in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term paneterie; that is from pain, the French form of the Latin panis for bread.In a late medieval hall, there were...
that has been converted into Dr. Kate Murry's laboratoryLaboratoryA laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
. As an adolescent, Meg MurryMeg MurryMargaret "Meg" Murry O'Keefe is the main character and main protagonist in Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet of Science fantasy novels, the daughter of two scientists, the sister of twins Sandy and Dennys Murry and telepath Charles Wallace Murry, and the mother of Polly O'Keefe and others in the...
lives in the attic. Outside, a vegetable garden is tended by Sandy and Dennys MurrySandy and Dennys MurryAlexander "Sandy" Murry and Dennys Murry are fictional identical twins in Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet. They play only minor roles in three of the books but are the protagonists of Many Waters...
, who eventually grow Christmas treeChristmas treeThe Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
s instead once they go off to college. After the twins move away and the trees are sold, their parents reinstate the vegetable garden on a smaller scale. At the edge of the property is a stone wall, inhabited by a snake called Louise the Larger, and a glacial boulderBoulderIn geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....
called the "star-watching rock". In later years the house features an indoor swimming poolSwimming poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
that connects to a "time gate", linking the present to a time approximately three thousand years earlier, when the area was inhabited by the fictional People of the Wind. Beyond this rural setting, small, worn-down mountainMountainImage:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s can be seen (based on Litchfield HillsLitchfield HillsThe Litchfield Hills is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is a term that is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfield County, for which it is named...
), which according to An Acceptable Time were larger and snow-capped three thousand years ago. The house and the nearby star-watching rock have parallels in both the Austin familyVicky AustinVictoria "Vicky" Austin is one of Madeleine L'Engle's most frequently-used fictional characters, appearing in eight books and referred to in at least one more. She is the main protagonist of the Austin family series of books...
series of books and in L'Engle's actual Connecticut home, Crosswicks, a farmhouse dating back to 1770. Like the similar house owned by the Austin family, the Murry house lies outside a small village, served by a regional high schoolHigh schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. Unlike the Austins' village, however, the one near the Murry home is not named in the books. - Vespugia - a fictional countryFictional countryA fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof....
in South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, home of the dictator Mad Dog Branzillo in A Swiftly Tilting PlanetA Swiftly Tilting PlanetA Swiftly Tilting Planet is a 1978 science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle, part of the Time Quartet. In it, Charles Wallace Murry, an advanced and perceptive child in A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door, has grown into adolescence...
, and later visited by Vicky Austin in Troubling a Star. L'Engle explains in Walking on Water that Vespugia is "set in the middle of what used to be called Patagonia, a sizeable area along what are now the boundaries of Chile and Argentina." L'Engle's husband, Hugh FranklinHugh FranklinHugh Hale Franklin was an American theatre and soap opera actor. He was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma.Franklin was best known for his role as Dr. Charles Tyler on All My Children, a role he played from the show’s first episode in 1970 until 1983...
, is credited with having named Vespugia.
Other planets
When Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace travel to other planets, the ones whose names are given include the following:- Camazotz – A planet of extreme, enforced conformity, ruled by a disembodied brain called IT. Meg's father, Dr. Alex Murry, is imprisoned there for a time, inside a building called "CENTRAL Central Intelligence". Camazotz is described as being similar to Earth, with familiar birch, pines, and maple trees, an ordinary hill on which the children arrive, and a town with smokestacks, which "might have been one of any number of familiar towns". Its ordinary appearance becomes less so as the children see that everything is endlessly duplicated without variation (except for one noncomforming boy, who is later punished). Thus, the houses are "all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray"; this characterization has been compared with "the burgeoning American suburbia" such as the post-war housing developments of Levittown, PennsylvaniaLevittown, PennsylvaniaLevittown is a census-designated place and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census. It is above sea level...
. The people who live in the houses are similarly described, with "mother figures" who "all gave the appearance of being the same". Camazotz has also been compared with "an early sixties American image of life in a Communist state", a characterization partially dismissed as too glib. The world is said to have a psychological significance for the character Meg, in that the pressure to conform there is similar to the pressures she faces in the small town where she lives. The name Camazotz refers to a Mayan bat godCamazotzIn Maya mythology, Camazotz was a bat god. Camazotz means "death bat" in the K'iche' language. In Mesoamerica the bat was associated with night, death, and sacrifice.-Etymology:...
. - Ixchel – A planet of muted colors, inhabited by tall, motherly, sightless creatures with tentacleTentacleA tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...
s. Named by the author for IxchelIxchelIxchel or Ix Chel is the 16th-century name of the aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine in the ancient Maya culture. She corresponds, more or less, to Toci Yoalticitl ‘Our Grandmother the Nocturnal Physician’, an Aztec earth goddess inhabiting the sweatbath, and is related to another...
, a MayanMaya mythologyMayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles...
moon goddess, it orbits the same sun as Camazotz. - Uriel – A planet with extremely tall mountains, an allusion to the ArchangelArchangelAn archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
UrielUrielUriel is one of the archangels of post-Exilic Rabbinic tradition, and also of certain Christian traditions...
. It is inhabited by creatures that resemble winged centaurCentaurIn Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
s, and identified as the third planet of the Starmark in the spiral nebula Messier 101. The site of Mrs Whatsit's temporary transformation into one of these winged creatures, it is the place where "the guardian angels" [i.e. the Mrs Ws, who are explicitly referred to as such by Calvin later in the book] "show the questers a vision of the universe that is obscured on earth."
They also stop briefly on an unnamed two-dimensional
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
planet and on an unnamed planet in Orion's belt
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
, the latter of which is the home of the Happy Medium.
Other places
Two places visited by Meg and Calvin in A Wind in the DoorA Wind in the Door
A Wind in the Door is a young adult science fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It is a companion book to A Wrinkle in Time, and part of the Time Quartet .-Plot summary:...
do not fit neatly into either of the above two categories.
- Yadah - the home of the farandolae Senex and Sporos, located in a mitochondrionMitochondrionIn cell biology, a mitochondrion is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. These organelles range from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometers in diameter...
inside one of Charles Wallace's cells. The site of the decisive battle against the EchthroiEchthroiEchthroi is a Greek word meaning "The Enemy" . The singular form of the word, Echthros , is used in many versions and translations of the Bible for enemy...
in A Wind in the Door, it serves to demonstrate L'Engle's premise that variations in size "are in reality, quite unimportant," as Blajeny states in the book; and that macrocosm and microcosmMacrocosm and microcosmMacrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale all the way down to the smallest scale...
are both part of the interdependenceInterdependenceInterdependence is a relation between its members such that each is mutually dependent on the others. This concept differs from a simple dependence relation, which implies that one member of the relationship can function or survive apart from the other....
of everything in the CosmosCosmosIn the general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from the Greek term κόσμος , meaning "order" or "ornament" and is antithetical to the concept of chaos. Today, the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The word cosmos originates from the same root...
. "If a butterfly winging over the fields around Crosswicks should be hurt, the effect would be felt in galaxies thousands of light years away," L'Engle says in A Stone for a Pillow. "The interrelationship of all of Creation is sensitive in a way we are just beginning to understand." The name comes from a HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
verb meaning "to extend the hand", and by extension, "to worship with extended hand".
- Metron Ariston - not an objectively real place, but "an idea, a postulatum" visited by Meg and Calvin in A Wind in the Door. As posited by Blajeny and seen by Meg, it has Meg's star-watching rock, but the stars above correspond to "the Mondrion solar system in the Veganuel galaxy", Blajeny's home galaxy. The use of this theoretical rather than actual location allows beings of disparate sizes — humans, Blajany (a giant by human standards), a "singular cherubimCherubA cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...
" and a farandola — to interact without regard to problems of scale.
Polly O'Keefe series
As newlyweds, Calvin O'Keefe and his wife Meg live in an apartmentApartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
near the unnamed hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
where Calvin works. By the time of The Arm of the Starfish
The Arm of the Starfish
The Arm of the Starfish is a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1965. It is the first novel featuring Polly O'Keefe and the O'Keefe family, a generation after the events of A Wrinkle in Time...
, about twelve to thirteen years later, the family has settled on the first of two fictional islands. Calvin, Charles and Polly also travel to other places in some of the novels.
- Gaea - a fictional island off the coast of PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, where the O'Keefes live as far as possible from the recently-developed tourist area, represented by a new hotel owned by Typhon Cutter. The island, which consists largely of sand dunes, grasses and jungleJungleA Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
trees and vines, is filled with light, and with colorful birds and butterflies. It also contains a circle of standing stones, with a stone altarAltarAn altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
in the center; a small cemeteryCemeteryA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
, and a village of Gaean natives with their own language and customs. The younger O'Keefe children (e.g. Johnny and Rosy) were born on Gaea. The name comes from GaeaGaia (mythology)Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
, an "Earth mother" figure from Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. - Benne Seed Island - off the coast of South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, a few hours' drive from Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South CarolinaCharleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. The O'Keefes move there about a year after the events of The Arm of the Starfish. They live in a converted hotelHotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
at one end of the island; at the other end is the village of Mulletville and the pink three-story mansion of Beau Allaire, home of Maximiliana Horne. The O'Keefe and Mulletville children attend school in fictional Cowpertown on the nearby mainlandMainlandMainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
. Benne seeds are another name for sesame seeds, as used in Southern cuisine. - Osia Theola, CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
- site of conference attended by Polly in A House Like a LotusA House Like a LotusA House Like a Lotus is a 1984 young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Its protagonist is sixteen-year-old Polly O'Keefe, whose friend and mentor, Maximiliana Horne, has sent her on a trip to Greece and Cyprus. As she travels, Polly must come to terms with a recent traumatic event involving Max...
. Literally means "holy, divine speech." Said to be where a woman named Theola had a vision in a cave, "early in the Christian era"; a church was built over the cave and the village there was named for the woman with the vision. - Lago de Los Dragones (Dragonlake) - a fictional lake in VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, home of the fictional Quiztano Indians. The Quiztanos live primarily in "round, airy straw houses with peaked roofs" raised on stilts over the lake. Two larger buildings on shore constitute the Caring Places, the Quiztano equivalent of a hospital. Oil wellOil wellAn oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
s stand at the other end of the lake; that part of the lake is polluted, with cases of mercury poisoningMercury poisoningMercury poisoning is a disease caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds. Mercury is a heavy metal occurring in several forms, all of which can produce toxic effects in high enough doses...
reported. - Puerto de Los Dragones (Port of Dragons), nearest port to Lago de Los Dragones in VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, toured by Calvin O'KeefeCalvin O'KeefeCalvin O'Keefe is a major character in Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet series of books, and, as "Dr. Calvin O'Keefe", an important character in her O'Keefe series of young adult novels. In an interview released on the DVD of the TV adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle describes Calvin as "the...
in Dragons in the WatersDragons in the WatersDragons in the Waters is a 1976 young adult murder mystery by Madeleine L'Engle, the second title to feature her character Polly O'Keefe. Its protagonist is thirteen-year-old Simon Bolivar Quentin Phair Renier, an impoverished orphan from an aristocratic Southern family...
. Port of Dragons, described as being "near the border" and having "a sizable band of CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
ns in the hills", is a jumble of rich residents in villaVillaA villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s and poor people in tin shacks, supported (and heavily polluted) by the oil industry. The other major industry appears to be smugglingSmugglingSmuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
- of art, drugs and other commodities. Miss Leonis Phair stays at the Hotel de Lago there. One point of interest is the Plaza Bolivar. Heavily armed guards and police are a common sight. Both the port and the lake names refer to dragons in the waters, from the Biblical quotation "Thou didst divide the sea through thy power; thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters" (Psalms 74:13, KJV), quoted by Miss Leonis at the end of the book.
Austin family series
- Thornhill, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
- the village near which the Austins live in most of the books. The Austin home is akin to the Murry farmhouse and to Crosswicks in size, age and environs; for example, all three have a "star-watching rock" out back. The Austin house is outside Thornhill, at the end of a dirt roadDirt roadDirt road is a common term for an unpaved road made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable for vehicles; a narrower path for pedestrians, animals, and possibly small vehicles would be called a...
that intersects the "old Boston Post RoadBoston Post RoadThe Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States.The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York...
". The Austins have an old barn, in which Vicky's brother John works on building a mock-up of a space suitSpace suitA space suit is a garment worn to keep an astronaut alive in the harsh environment of outer space. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, and are necessary for extra-vehicular activity , work done outside spacecraft...
. Dr. Austin sees patients a few evenings a week in his office at one end of the house, which has its own entrance. A short drive from the Austin house is Hawk Mountain (apparently a fictionalized version of Mohawk Mountain near Cornwall, ConnecticutCornwall, ConnecticutCornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2000 census.In 1939 poet Mark Van Doren wrote "The Hills of Little Cornwall", a short poem in which the beauties of the countryside were portrayed as seductive:The town was also home to the Foreign...
), another place the family goes to talk and look at stars. The nearby town is Clovenford, where Dr. Austin works at the regional hospitalHospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. The state in which Thornhill is located is not initially given, but in The Moon by Night John Austin tells Zachary GrayZachary GrayZachary Gray is a fictional character in the young adult novels of Madeleine L'Engle...
that the family is from Connecticut. L'Engle and her family, the Franklins, lived in a similar Connecticut locale when Meet the Austins was written. In a 1995 introduction to the Austin family paperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
s, L'Engle states that "Indeed, the Austins do a great many things that my family did, including living in a small dairy farm village." L'Engle also mentions Clovenford in a fictional incident in A Circle of Quiet (p. 87). - Seven Bay Island - a fictional island about two day's drive from Thornhill, home of Reverend Eaton, Vicky's maternal grandfather, and of Leo Rodney. The exact state is not given, but L'Engle describes is as be "an island off the New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
coast". Appears in Meet the AustinsMeet the AustinsMeet the Austins is the title of a 1960 novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the first of her books about the Austin family. It introduces the characters Vicky Austin and her three siblings, and Maggy Hamilton, an orphan...
and The Moon by NightThe Moon by NightThe Moon by Night is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Published in 1963, it is the second novel about Vicky Austin and her family, taking place between the events of Meet the Austins and The Young Unicorns , and more or less concurrently with the O'Keefe family novel The...
, and is the setting of A Ring of Endless LightA Ring of Endless LightA Ring of Endless Light is a 1980 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book tells of a girl named Vicky and her struggle to understand life and significance in the universe as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding love....
. Seven Bay is reached by ferryFerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
, and is said to be the third and last stop on the ferry's outbound route. - Vespugia - the fictional country in South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, first mentioned in A Swiftly Tilting Planet, is visited by Vicky Austin in Troubling a StarTroubling a StarTroubling a Star is the last full length novel in the Austin family series by Madeleine L'Engle. The young adult suspense thriller, published in 1994, reunites L'Engle's most frequent protagonist, Vicky Austin, with Adam Eddington, both of whom become enmeshed in international intrigue as they...
, en route to Antarctica. It is shown as having at least one step pyramidPyramidA pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
. More important to the book and the L'Engle corpus, Vespugia by the time Vicky arrives is no longer governed by El Zarco (Madoc Branzillo), the benign leader who replaced evil "Mad Dog" through the efforts of Charles Wallace. Instead, General Guedder (a descendant of the malevolent Gedder from A Swiftly Tilting Planet) has established a totalitarian regime, funded in part by international trade in illegal drugs. Guedder's Vespugia hopes to gain power in the world community by controlling and exploiting as much of Antarctica as possible. The name references the explorer Amerigo VespucciAmerigo VespucciAmerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name.-Expeditions:...
, after whom the American continents were named. It is evidently a small country, "very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter" located between ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, who have been "nibbling" at Vespugia's borders for centuries. The Spanish InquisitionSpanish InquisitionThe Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
was once powerful there, torturing and killing the native Indians and destroying native religious sites and artifacts. - Eddington Point, Antarctica - the fictional location of LeNoir Station, a small scientific research station staffed primarily by Americans in Troubling a Star. Eddington Point was named after Adam EddingtonAdam EddingtonAdam Eddington III is a major character in three young adult novels by Madeleine L'Engle. A marine biology student, he is the protagonist of The Arm of the Starfish , and a reluctant love interest for Vicky Austin in A Ring of Endless Light , a relationship that continues in Troubling a Star...
's uncle and namesake, a marine biologist who was murdered in Antarctica. The younger Adam is stationed there in Troubling a Star, but is mysteriously absent when Vicky arrives.
Other significant places
In addition to the many fictional locations, L'Engle has set parts of her novels in a number of real places, including the following:- AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
- where Polly meets Zachary GrayZachary GrayZachary Gray is a fictional character in the young adult novels of Madeleine L'Engle...
in A House Like a Lotus. - Beja, PortugalBeja (Portugal)Beja is a city in the Beja Municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The municipality has a total area of 1,147.1 km² and a total population of 34,970 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 21,658....
- where Charlotte Napier flees during a crisis in her marriage and reads the Letters of a Portuguese NunLetters of a Portuguese NunThe Letters of a Portuguese Nun , first published anonymously by Claude Barbin in Paris in 1669, is a work believed by most scholars to be epistolary fiction in the form of five letters written by Gabriel-Joseph de La Vergne, comte de Guilleragues , a minor peer, diplomat, secretary to the Prince...
in L'Engle's adult novel The Love Letters (19661966 in literatureThe year 1966 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 14 - Dissident writers Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky are sentenced to hard labour for "anti-Soviet activity"....
). - LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
- where Adam EddingtonAdam EddingtonAdam Eddington III is a major character in three young adult novels by Madeleine L'Engle. A marine biology student, he is the protagonist of The Arm of the Starfish , and a reluctant love interest for Vicky Austin in A Ring of Endless Light , a relationship that continues in Troubling a Star...
rescues Polly O'Keefe but gets ensnared by the Cutters in The Arm of the Starfish. - MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
- where the plane that carried Adam Eddington, Canon TallisCanon TallisCanon John Tallis is a major character in the young adult novels of Madeleine L'Engle, appearing in four books. The character is based on L'Engle's real-life spiritual advisor, Canon Edward Nason West of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City....
, and Polly is temporarily stranded in The Arm of the Starfish. - New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- L'Engle's birthplace, home of Adam EddingtonAdam EddingtonAdam Eddington III is a major character in three young adult novels by Madeleine L'Engle. A marine biology student, he is the protagonist of The Arm of the Starfish , and a reluctant love interest for Vicky Austin in A Ring of Endless Light , a relationship that continues in Troubling a Star...
, Camilla Dickinson, Katherine Forrester Vigneras, and even the Austins for one year. A specific location within the city, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, is the primary setting for The Young UnicornsThe Young UnicornsThe Young Unicorns is the title of a young adult suspense novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It is the third novel about the Austin family, taking place between the events of The Moon by Night and A Ring of Endless Light...
and A Severed WaspA Severed WaspA Severed Wasp A Severed Wasp A Severed Wasp (1982, is a novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It continues the story of a pianist, Katherine Forrester, who was first seen in The Small Rain. Now a widow in her seventies, Katherine Forrester Vigneras returns to New York City in retirement from concert touring...
. L'Engle herself was writer-in-residence at the cathedral for many years. - SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
- site of at least two fictional boarding schools in L'Engle's early novels (notably The Small RainThe Small RainThe Small Rain is a semi-autobiographical novel by Madeleine L'Engle, about the many difficulties in the life of talented pianist Katherine Forrester between the ages of 10 and 19. Published in 1945 by the Vanguard Press, it was the first of L'Engle's long list of books, and was reprinted in 1984...
and And Both Were YoungAnd Both Were YoungAnd Both Were Young is a novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It tells the story of a girl at boarding school in Switzerland and the relationship she develops with a boy she meets there.-Plot summary:...
), based on one that L'Engle herself attended. Also the setting of the adult novel A Winter's Love.