Major characters in the works of Madeleine L'Engle facts for kids

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer who wrote many novels, diaries, and poems. She started writing in 1945 and continued into the 1990s. Many of her characters appear in more than one book, sometimes even in different book series! This article tells you about some of L'Engle's most famous characters.

L'Engle grouped her main characters into two types: "chronos" and "kairos." These are Greek words for different ideas about time. The Austin family stories happen in "chronos" time, which L'Engle called "ordinary, wrist-watch, alarm-clock time." These stories are mostly realistic, but sometimes have a touch of science fiction.

The Murry and O'Keefe family stories happen in "kairos" time. This means "real time, pure numbers with no measurement." These stories often include time travel, fantasy, and ideas about good versus evil. There's also a third group of characters who "cross and connect." They appear in both chronos and kairos stories, linking almost all of L'Engle's characters into one big fictional world.

Character Traits and Inspirations

Many of L'Engle's early main characters, like Katherine Forrester and Camilla Dickinson, were only children, much like L'Engle herself. But later characters often have big families. For example, Meg Murry and Vicky Austin each have three siblings. Polly O'Keefe has six brothers and sisters!

Most of L'Engle's heroines are artists, like pianists, painters, or poets. But some are scientists, like Meg Murry, who is a mathematician, and Camilla, who is an astronomer. The important male characters, like John Austin and Calvin O'Keefe, often love science or medicine. Music is also a big part of many characters' lives. For instance, the O'Keefes sing together, and the Austins enjoy classical music.

Some of L'Engle's young heroines are like the author when she was a teenager. They even experience fictional versions of things from L'Engle's own youth. For example, Flip Hunter and Katherine Forrester both go to a Swiss boarding school, just like L'Engle did. L'Engle said that only a few characters were directly based on real people. Rob Austin was based on her son, Bion Franklin. Canon Tallis was based on her spiritual advisor, Canon Edward Nason West.

David Dorfman as Charles Wallace Murry, Katie Stuart as Meg Murry, and Gregory Smith as Calvin O'Keefe in the TV movie A Wrinkle in Time.

Main Kairos Characters

These characters are part of the stories that involve time travel and fantasy.

The Murry Family

• Alexander Murry — He is an astrophysicist who works for the U.S. government. He is married to Katherine Murry and has four children. Before the first book, A Wrinkle in Time, he gets lost on a planet called Camazotz. He is rescued a few years later.
• Katherine Murry — She is a microbiologist and a Nobel Prize winner. She is Alex Murry's wife and a mother of four. She has a lab in her home. Kate is loving and caring, but she can't always protect her family from danger.
• Margaret "Meg" Murry — She is the oldest daughter of Alex and Katherine. As a teenager, she is a bit clumsy and feels plain. But she grows into a graceful and beautiful young woman through the books. She is closest to her youngest brother, Charles Wallace. As an adult, she marries Calvin O'Keefe and has seven children. Meg is a math genius and a scientist.
• Alexander "Sandy" Murry and Dennys Murry — They are twin sons of Alex and Katherine. They call themselves the "normal" ones of the Murry family. As teenagers, they travel back in time to the period before the Great Flood. Later, Sandy becomes a lawyer, and Dennys becomes a brain surgeon.
• Charles Wallace Murry — He is the youngest Murry child. Charles Wallace is very smart and sensitive. He can read minds and is seen as a special, advanced child. He is a main character in A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. He is small for his age and often misunderstood by other kids. As an adult, he is often away on secret missions.

The O'Keefe Family

• Calvin O'Keefe — He is a marine biologist, married to Meg, and the father of many children. As a boy, Calvin was good at school, sports, and making friends. But he felt like he didn't quite fit in until he found a true home with the Murry family.
• Polly/Poly (Polyhymnia) O'Keefe — She is the oldest child of Meg and Calvin. Her godfather, Canon Tallis, gave her a unique name. Polly gets involved in different adventures in several books. She also joins the Murry family's tradition of time and space travel. She first spells her nickname "Poly" but later changes it to "Polly."
• Charles O'Keefe — He is named after Charles Wallace Murry. Charles is known for being sensitive to others and having a special ability to see things before they happen. He wants to be a doctor who can help people's bodies, minds, and spirits.
• Branwen Zillah Maddox O'Keefe — Usually called "Mom" O'Keefe, she is an important character in A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Charles Wallace meets her as a young girl and later as an older woman. She marries Paddy O'Keefe and becomes Calvin's mother. At the end of her life, she helps Charles Wallace save the world from nuclear war.
• Minor O'Keefe Children — Polly's other siblings include Alexander (Xan), Dennys (Den), Peggy, Johnny, and Mary (Rosy). Only Xan gets much attention in the books.

Other Kairos Characters

• Dr. Louise Colubra — She is the Murry family's doctor and a close friend. A telepathic snake was named after her. She helps Dr. Kate Murry with Charles Wallace's health.
• Mr. Jenkins — He is Meg's high school principal in A Wrinkle in Time. Later, he becomes Charles Wallace's elementary school principal. He seems to dislike and misunderstand Meg and Charles Wallace at first. But Meg eventually realizes that Mr. Jenkins is a good person who cares about others. Once Meg understands him better, Mr. Jenkins joins her and Calvin on their journey to help Charles Wallace.

Main Chronos Characters

These characters live in the more realistic, "ordinary time" stories.

• Vicky Austin — She is the main character of the Austin family series. Vicky is a young poet and writer, and the second oldest of four children. She often tells the stories from her point of view. She sometimes argues with her younger sister, Suzy, but finds a good friend and guide in her grandfather, Grandfather Eaton.
• John Austin — He is Vicky's older brother, who loves science. John studies astrophysics at M.I.T. He is curious and enjoys thinking about big ideas.
• Suzy Austin (Davidson) — She is usually seen as the beautiful one in the family. Suzy has wanted to be a doctor since she was very young. As an adult, Suzy becomes a heart doctor. She marries Josiah "Dave" Davidson and they have four children.
• Rob Austin — He is the youngest of the Austin children. Robert is curious and loving. He makes friends easily and asks thoughtful questions. His favorite toy is an elephant with a music box. Madeleine L'Engle said that Rob is based on her own youngest child.
• Dr. Wallace Austin — He is a medical doctor and the father of the four Austin children. Dr. Austin is a busy family doctor. He takes time off to research a new laser device for medicine and write a book.
• Victoria Eaton Austin — She is a retired singer and the mother of the Austin children. Vicky's mother, the former Victoria Eaton, met Dr. Austin while singing at a military hospital. She gave up her singing career to marry him and have children. She has no regrets about her choice.

Characters Who Cross Over

These characters appear in both the "chronos" and "kairos" stories, connecting L'Engle's different book series.

• Canon John Tallis — He is an Episcopal priest. Tallis appears in four novels, with both the O'Keefe and Austin families. He is a spiritual leader who also helps solve crimes and international mysteries. The character is based on L'Engle's real-life spiritual advisor.
• Adam Eddington — He is a marine biologist. Adam first appears working with Calvin O'Keefe. He gets caught up in a struggle over new medical technology. Later, he meets Vicky Austin while working with dolphins. More adventures follow them to Antarctica.
• Zachary Grey — He is a student from a very rich family. Zachary is a troubled young man who struggles with his choices. He has complicated relationships with both Vicky Austin and Polly O'Keefe. He is charming and exciting, but also needs a lot of emotional support.
• Katherine Forrester (Vigneras) — She is a pianist. Katherine is the main character of The Small Rain. She is a talented but lonely teenager studying piano at a strict boarding school. Katherine reappears as an old woman in A Severed Wasp, looking back on her life and career. She also briefly appears in A Ring of Endless Light.
• Emmanuele Theotocopoulos (Mr. Theo) — He is an organist and teacher. Mr. Theo is the organist at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. He teaches piano to Emily Gregory, a blind child prodigy. Mr. Theo is warm-hearted and protective of young people. He is a good friend to Canon Tallis.
• Emily Gregory — She is a pianist. Emily is the daughter of a famous scholar. When she was ten, an intruder blinded her permanently while trying to steal papers. In The Young Unicorns, Emily, now twelve, is a piano prodigy. She uses her amazing hearing and memory to adapt to blindness. As an adult, she becomes a well-known interpreter of South American music.
• Mimi Oppenheimer (Mimi Opp) — She is a surgeon. Mimi attends the same boarding school as Virginia Bowen. Later, she is Katherine Forrester's neighbor and friend. Mimi is a surgeon and friends with several people at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.
• Josiah "Dave" Davidson — He becomes a Dean. As a teenager in The Young Unicorns, Dave is a carpenter's son and a former choirboy. He reads to the blind pianist Emily Gregory and helps her get around. He becomes a friend and protector to the Austin children. As an adult in A Severed Wasp, Dave is the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, married to Suzy Austin.
• Virginia Bowen Porcher — She is a writer. Virginia first appears in A Winter's Love. She reappears in A House Like a Lotus as Polly O'Keefe's favorite writer. Her husband has a serious illness.
• Frank Rowan — He is a publisher. Frank first appears in Camilla Dickinson as Camilla's first love. He shows up again in A House Like a Lotus as a publisher in Istanbul. He has faced personal tragedies.

Other Main Characters

These characters are the main focus of their own stories.

• Camilla Dickinson — In the novel named after her, Camilla is a teenage girl whose mother is having difficulties in her marriage. Camilla herself falls in love with her best friend's older brother, Frank Rowan. Camilla later reappears as an astronomer in A Live Coal in the Sea.
• Philippa "Flip" Hunter — She is the main character of And Both Were Young. Flip is a young artist who is unhappy when she is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. She meets a mysterious boy and learns to get along with others and gain confidence. The adult Hunter is mentioned as a successful artist in A Severed Wasp.
• Charlotte Napier — She is the modern-day main character of The Love Letters. After sad events in her life, Charlotte travels to Portugal. Like L'Engle, Charlotte lost a parent early and was sent away from her family. Charlotte also had a brief career as an actress.
• Simon Bolivar Quentin Phair Renier — Simon appears in Dragons in the Waters. He is a young boy from a poor but noble Southern family. He meets the O'Keefe family and Canon Tallis. Some of his relatives appear in other L'Engle books.
• Stella Renier — Stella appears in L'Engle's adult novel The Other Side of the Sun. She is shown as both an older grandmother and a 19-year-old newlywed in 1910. She gets involved in family conflicts and tries to make peace.
• Emma Wheaton — Emma is an actress and the main character of Certain Women. Her large family gathers as her father is dying. This helps Emma deal with past challenges and think about her future.