Genre
Fantasy / Children's / Science Fiction / Young Adult
Reading Time
12 Minutes
Key Themes
See below
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A freak storm catapults a young girl through time to an ancient world where she must navigate a society of spear-wielding warriors and the threat of human sacrifice to find her way home before the temporal portal seals forever.
Sixteen-year-old Polly O'Keefe arrives at her grandparents' Vermont farm, home to her famous scientist grandmother and grandfather, the Murrys. She hopes for a peaceful summer, perhaps even a chance to work on her own scientific theories. Soon after she arrives, she feels a strange, localized earthquake, a 'quiver' that seems to affect only the area around the Murry's property. This event is unsettling and feels different from a typical tremor. Her grandparents, used to unusual events, don't dismiss her experience, but they don't immediately recognize its importance. Polly, however, feels a deep unease and a sense that something extraordinary has happened or is about to.
While exploring the woods near her grandparents' house, Polly finds a clearing with a circle of ancient standing stones, like Stonehenge. She feels an inexplicable pull toward them. As she approaches, the air around the stones seems to shimmer, and she senses a presence, almost a whisper from another time. This experience is both thrilling and terrifying. She tries to explain it scientifically, but the feeling is too strong to ignore. She returns to the stones repeatedly, drawn by their mystery, and begins to suspect they are more than just old rocks; they seem to hum with a hidden energy, a silent promise of something beyond her current understanding. The stones become central to her growing sense of the uncanny.
During one of her visits to the standing stones, a powerful flash of lightning, a loud thunderclap, and another 'quiver' of the earth strike the clearing. When the light clears, Polly finds herself in a dramatically altered setting – jagged, unfamiliar mountains, dense mist, and a strong sense of ancientness. The farm is gone. From the mist, she sees a group of young men, dressed in animal skins and carrying spears, moving toward her with suspicion and awe. She has accidentally stepped through a time gate, a thin place between eras, and landed three thousand years in the past, in a prehistoric, Celtic-like society. Her modern clothes and appearance make her an immediate outsider.
The young men, led by a cautious but curious individual named Karmi, bring Polly to their village. At first, she causes both fear and fascination. The villagers, who speak an ancient form of Gaelic, struggle to understand her, and she, them. She quickly learns that their society is deeply rooted in nature, ritual, and a strong connection to the land and its spirits. She meets the tribe's wise woman, Anaral, who seems to intuitively understand Polly's unique situation. Polly observes their daily lives, their hunting practices, their family structures, and their belief system, which includes reverence for nature and a darker aspect involving human sacrifice to appease their gods during hard times.
As Polly spends more time in the past, she learns about the tribe's desperate customs. During famine, plague, or other disasters, they believe that offering a human sacrifice to their gods is the only way to restore balance and ensure survival. Polly sees the preparations for such a ritual, and her modern sensibilities are horrified. She realizes the extreme danger she is in. Her foreignness, her unusual appearance, and her sudden arrival make her a prime candidate for such a sacrifice. She understands that while some, like Karmi, might be intrigued by her, others, especially those in power or driven by fear, might see her as an ideal offering to their deities, a way to appease angry spirits.
Polly encounters Bran, a powerful and mysterious figure who seems to understand the land and its mysteries more deeply than the common villagers. He is connected to ancient Druidic traditions, a precursor to later, more formalized Druid orders. Bran recognizes something special in Polly, sensing her unique connection to the 'thin places' and the flow of time. He speaks in riddles and offers cryptic advice, hinting at the true nature of the standing stones and the time gate. He is a protector of sorts, but also a figure of immense power, capable of great good and potentially great harm. Through Bran, Polly begins to grasp the spiritual and temporal importance of her predicament.
Polly becomes increasingly desperate to find a way back to her own time. She understands that the time gate is not always open and might close permanently, trapping her in the ancient past. She revisits the standing stones, trying to replicate the conditions of her arrival, but without success. She discusses her predicament with Karmi and Anaral, trying to explain the concept of different times, which is incredibly difficult for them to grasp. Bran, however, seems to understand, offering guidance that is more mystical than scientific. Polly begins to realize that her return might not depend solely on scientific principles but also on a deeper, spiritual alignment with the forces that govern time and space.
During her time in the ancient past, Polly develops a complex and tender relationship with Karmi. He is one of the first to encounter her and shows genuine curiosity and kindness. Despite the language barrier and their vastly different worlds, a connection forms between them. Karmi is intrigued by Polly's knowledge and her unusual ways, while Polly finds herself drawn to his strength, his connection to nature, and his earnest desire to protect her. This relationship adds another layer of emotional complexity to her predicament, making her eventual departure, if it happens, even more poignant. She feels a pull toward this ancient world, not just out of fear, but also out of a growing affection.
As the time for the human sacrifice ritual approaches, Polly cannot stand by. Driven by her modern moral compass, she attempts to intervene, to reason with the villagers, and to disrupt the ancient custom. Her actions are met with confusion, anger, and suspicion from some, while others, like Karmi, are torn. Her defiance puts her in even greater peril, as she is seen as challenging the very fabric of their beliefs and possibly angering the gods further. This intervention highlights the vast cultural and ethical gap between her time and theirs, and she risks becoming the sacrifice herself in her desperate attempt to save another.
Through a combination of Bran's mystical guidance, her own desperate will, and another powerful convergence of natural forces at the standing stones, Polly is finally able to step back through the time gate. She finds herself returned to her grandparents' farm, just moments after she left, but deeply changed. The experience has left a lasting mark on her soul and mind. She is no longer the same girl who arrived at the farm. She carries the memories, the sounds, the smells, and the emotional weight of her time in the ancient past. While her grandparents are relieved, they sense a new depth and wisdom in her. The ancient world, though unseen, now coexists within her.
Back in her own time, Polly struggles to reconcile her extraordinary experience with the mundane reality of her present. The world of television, cars, and scientific instruments seems foreign and sterile after the raw life of the ancient past. She grapples with the ethical implications of what she witnessed and her inability to truly change the past. Her grandparents offer support, recognizing the depth of her journey, and help her process the scientific and philosophical implications of time travel. Polly realizes that her encounter with the past has been a lesson in humanity, history, and the interconnectedness of all times and peoples.
Polly begins to see that her experience has given her a unique perspective on life, time, and human nature. She understands the power of ancient beliefs and the human struggle for survival and meaning. While she carries a sense of loss for the ancient world and the connections she made, she also gains a deeper appreciation for her own time and the progress of humanity. The book concludes with Polly finding a measure of peace, recognizing that the past is not truly gone, but continues to resonate. She is left with the understanding that her journey was a spiritual and intellectual awakening that will shape her future.
The Protagonist
Polly transforms from a somewhat detached intellectual into a deeply empathetic individual, forced to confront the harsh realities of human history and the interconnectedness of time and culture. She gains a profound understanding of humanity's past and her own place within it.
The Supporting
Karmi's worldview is challenged and expanded by Polly's presence, forcing him to question ancient beliefs and consider new possibilities. He becomes more open-minded and empathetic, developing a deep, if ultimately unfulfillable, connection with someone from another time.
The Supporting
Bran remains largely constant, serving as a timeless anchor and a source of ancient wisdom, guiding Polly through her journey without undergoing significant personal transformation himself, embodying the enduring spirit of the land.
The Supporting
Anaral's arc involves a gradual acceptance and understanding of Polly's extraordinary nature, deepening her own wisdom and spiritual insight by encountering something truly outside her world's understanding.
The Supporting
Dr. Murry reinforces his commitment to scientific inquiry and the acceptance of the unknown, further solidifying his role as a mentor who balances scientific explanation with an openness to extraordinary phenomena.
The Supporting
Mrs. Murry continues to embody her role as a source of wisdom and emotional grounding, helping Polly integrate her extraordinary experience into her reality with compassion and understanding.
The Minor
Tig's character primarily serves to highlight Polly's compassionate nature and provide a connection to the younger generation of the past, without a significant personal arc of his own.
The Antagonist (collective)
As a collective, their arc remains largely static, representing the unchanging, deeply ingrained traditions and fears of their society, which Polly challenges but cannot fundamentally alter.
The novel explores time not as a linear progression but as a fluid, interconnected entity, with 'thin places' where different eras can intersect. Polly's journey challenges the modern scientific understanding of time, suggesting that reality is far more complex and malleable than commonly perceived. It examines the idea that past, present, and future might coexist or be accessible through specific convergences of natural and possibly spiritual forces. The book suggests that scientific and mystical understandings of time can converge.
“Time is not a line, but a vast, intricate tapestry, and there are places where the threads knot together, where the warp and weft of different ages touch.”
Polly's journey into the ancient past highlights the vast differences in cultural norms, belief systems, and moral frameworks across millennia. She is confronted with practices like human sacrifice, which are abhorrent to her modern sensibilities but deeply ingrained and understood within the ancient tribe's context of survival and appeasing gods. The theme explores the challenge of understanding and empathizing with cultures vastly different from one's own, even when those differences are morally confronting, pushing Polly to move beyond judgment to a deeper level of human understanding.
“How could she judge them, when their lives were so utterly dependent on the whims of weather and harvest, on the very breath of the earth?”
L'Engle consistently links scientific concepts with mystical and spiritual experiences. Polly, a scientifically inclined teenager, grapples with phenomena that defy purely rational explanation, such as the time gate and Bran's intuitive knowledge. The novel suggests that science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive but rather different lenses through which to understand the universe's mysteries. The standing stones, for instance, are both a geological formation and a site of immense spiritual power, blurring the lines between the tangible and the ethereal.
“Perhaps the oldest wisdom was not a rejection of science, but a deeper knowing, a science of the spirit.”
Polly's time travel is a coming-of-age experience. She is thrust out of her comfortable, modern world and forced to adapt, survive, and make difficult moral choices in a harsh, ancient environment. This extraordinary challenge forces her to mature rapidly, understand her own values, and develop a deeper sense of self. The journey is not just about returning home, but about discovering who she is and what she believes in when stripped of her familiar surroundings and faced with fundamental human struggles.
“She had gone through the gate a girl, and returned a woman, carrying the weight of three thousand years in her heart.”
Despite the vast differences in technology, language, and custom, the novel highlights the enduring qualities of the human spirit across millennia. Polly finds common ground in love, fear, curiosity, and the desire for connection with the ancient people. The book emphasizes that fundamental human emotions and needs remain constant, suggesting a shared humanity that transcends time. It celebrates the resilience, adaptability, and capacity for both cruelty and kindness that have characterized humanity throughout its history.
“The faces were different, the words strange, but the laughter, the sorrow, the love—those were the same, echoing across the ages.”
A physical portal that allows travel between different eras.
The standing stones in the woods near the Murry farm function as a 'thin place' or a time gate, a localized portal through which Polly travels three thousand years into the past. This device is both a physical landmark and a nexus of mystical energy, activated by specific atmospheric conditions (lightning, quivers). It serves as the primary mechanism for the plot's central conflict and adventure, providing the means for Polly's journey and her eventual return. It represents the mystery of time and the unknown forces that govern it, blurring the lines between science and magic.
The inability to communicate due to different languages.
Upon arriving in the past, Polly faces a significant language barrier, as the ancient people speak an early form of Gaelic. This device immediately creates tension, misunderstanding, and isolation for Polly. It forces her to rely on observation, intuition, and the kindness of others for survival. It also highlights the profound cultural differences and the challenge of bridging such gaps, emphasizing the universality of non-verbal communication and the struggle to convey complex ideas across vast temporal and linguistic divides. It underscores her foreignness and vulnerability.
The shock and confusion of encountering a vastly different culture.
Polly experiences profound cultural disorientation, from the lack of modern amenities to the ancient tribe's beliefs in human sacrifice. This device is crucial for highlighting the vast chasm between her modern world and the prehistoric past. It forces Polly to constantly re-evaluate her assumptions, challenge her moral framework, and adapt to radically different survival strategies and social norms. This disorientation fuels much of the internal and external conflict, making her journey not just physical but deeply psychological and philosophical, driving her growth and understanding of humanity.
A localized, supernatural tremor signaling shifts in time.
The 'quiver' is a specific, localized seismic event that Polly experiences multiple times, preceding and accompanying her passage through the time gate. Unlike a normal earthquake, it has a peculiar, almost resonant quality. This device acts as a mystical indicator of temporal shifts or disturbances in the fabric of reality. It serves as a recurring motif, building suspense and signaling impending changes. The quiver is not just a natural phenomenon but an almost sentient pulse of the 'thin places,' connecting the scientific with the supernatural and foreshadowing the extraordinary events to come.
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Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.
