Meet the Austins was published by Vanguard Press in 1960 (it was rejected by multiple publishers who found its opening — a child learning of a death — too dark for a children’s book). Narrated by twelve-year-old Vicky Austin, it introduces the Austin family: Dr. Wallace Austin, his wife, and their four children living in a small Connecticut town.
Their comfortable routine is disrupted when Maggy Hamilton, a ten-year-old orphan (her father died in a plane crash that also killed a family friend), comes to live with them. Maggy is difficult — spoiled by wealthy relatives, prone to lying and manipulation — and her presence exposes the Austin family’s assumptions about their own goodness.
L’Engle uses Vicky’s narration to explore how children process grief (the dead pilot, Uncle Hal, was beloved), how families maintain their identity under stress, and how Christian faith operates in daily life without becoming pious. The novel was L’Engle’s first commercial success after a decade of rejections, and it established the domestic realism that would alternate with the cosmic fantasy of the Time Quintet throughout her career.
Collecting Meet the Austins
First edition (Vanguard Press, New York, 1960): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in jacket: $150–$400
- Very good in jacket: $60–$150