A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time is a children's fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle, written in 1962. It is the first in her series of books about the Murry family.

Related Topics:
Madeleine L'Engle - 1962

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The main character is thirteen-year-old Meg Murry, who is regarded by her peers and teachers as a bad-tempered underachiever. Her family, who recognize her problem as lack of emotional maturity but also regard her as being capable of great things, includes her beautiful scientist mother, her five-year-old brother Charles Wallace Murry, a nascent super-genius, and ten-year-old twin athlete brothers Sandy Murry and Dennys Murry.

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A Newbery Medal winner, the book begins with the line, "It was a dark and stormy night.", a duplicate of the opening words in Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. The Murrys are visited by an eccentric old woman named Mrs Whatsit, who has previously made the acquaintance of Charles Wallace. After drying her feet and having a midnight snack with Charles, Meg and their mother, Mrs Whatsit tells an already perplexed Dr. Murry that "there is such a thing as a tesseract."

Related Topics:
Newbery Medal - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - Paul Clifford - Tesseract

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Shortly thereafter, Meg and Charles meet up with Meg's upperclassman Calvin O'Keefe, who, although he is a stereotypical "big man on campus", turns out to be keen to join the children for further encounters with Mrs Whatsit and her rather more eccentric sisters Mrs Who and Mrs Which.

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Eventually, the three youths are offered the opportunity to find the Murrys' missing father, Alex Murry. They eagerly accept, not then realizing that their journey will take them not only through time and space but also into the depths of their own psyches.

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L'Engle has written three other books featuring this generation of the Murry family. Listed in order of the internal chronology of the series:

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• A Wind in the Door (1973)
• Many Waters (1986)
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978)

See also: List of L'Engle's works

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A Wrinkle in Time: Television movie ►