Editors Reads Verdict
The fifth and final Time Quintet novel shifts to the next generation and a new protagonist in Polly O'Keefe. While it lacks the concentrated power of the earlier volumes, it provides a satisfying conclusion to L'Engle's multi-generational vision of time, choice, and sacrifice.
What We Loved
- Polly O'Keefe is a capable protagonist who carries the weight of the story confidently
- The prehistoric New England setting is less familiar than most time-travel destinations in children's fiction
- The human sacrifice dilemma is handled with genuine moral seriousness
Minor Drawbacks
- The novel does not quite reach the intensity of the best earlier volumes
- The large cast of prehistoric characters can be difficult to differentiate
Key Takeaways
- → The willingness to sacrifice oneself for others is the recurring measure of moral greatness in L'Engle's universe
- → Ancient communities, like all communities, contain wisdom and violence in proportion determined by choice
- → Time is not linear but interconnected — all times are, in some sense, simultaneous
| Author | Madeleine L'Engle |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Laurel Leaf |
| Pages | 343 |
| Published | January 1, 1989 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy |
An Acceptable Time Review
An Acceptable Time was published in 1989, fifteen years after A Wind in the Door and more than a quarter century after the original A Wrinkle in Time. It completes the Time Quintet, but it is also a generational completion: the protagonist is Polly O’Keefe, daughter of Meg Murry and Calvin O’Keefe, and the setting is the Connecticut farm of Meg’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Murry, who have appeared throughout the series as figures of intellectual authority and human warmth.
A time gate opens near the Murrys’ property, and Polly — spending the autumn before college with her grandparents — finds herself moving between the present and the world of three thousand years ago, when the land was inhabited by two peoples with different customs and a conflict that requires resolution. A young druid named Karralys and a bishop named Anaral are caught between their communities’ traditions around human sacrifice and the radical alternative that Polly, arriving from outside both cultures, represents.
The human sacrifice question is the novel’s moral centre, handled with the seriousness it deserves. L’Engle neither endorses the practice nor dismisses the cultural logic within which it makes sense. The question she poses — whether an innocent person can choose to sacrifice themselves for a community that will not otherwise survive — is continuous with the self-sacrifice themes that run through the entire quintet, from Meg’s risk in A Wrinkle in Time to Charles Wallace’s time journeys.
The novel is the most leisurely of the five, and some readers will find the extended middle section less driven than the earlier volumes. But as a conclusion to a series that has consistently asked what it means to love a person and a world enough to risk everything for it, An Acceptable Time provides a thoughtful final answer.
Our rating: 3.8/5
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "An Acceptable Time" about?
Polly O'Keefe — daughter of Meg Murry — discovers a time gate near her grandparents' New England farm that opens into the world of three thousand years ago, where she becomes entangled in a conflict between two ancient peoples and a druid named Karralys.
What are the key takeaways from "An Acceptable Time"?
The willingness to sacrifice oneself for others is the recurring measure of moral greatness in L'Engle's universe Ancient communities, like all communities, contain wisdom and violence in proportion determined by choice Time is not linear but interconnected — all times are, in some sense, simultaneous
Is "An Acceptable Time" worth reading?
The fifth and final Time Quintet novel shifts to the next generation and a new protagonist in Polly O'Keefe. While it lacks the concentrated power of the earlier volumes, it provides a satisfying conclusion to L'Engle's multi-generational vision of time, choice, and sacrifice.
Ready to Read An Acceptable Time?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: