The Beginning Place
A short novel blending realism and fantasy.
Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1980 short novel *The Beginning Place* (released as *Threshold* in 1986) mixes realism with fantasy. Its epigraph, “What river is this through which the Ganges flows?,” comes from Rabindranath Tagore’s *Gitanjali*.
The story follows two young people, Irene Pannis and Hugh Rogers, as they move from adolescence to adulthood across two worlds: their own and the idyllic Tembreabrezi. Chapters alternate between their perspectives. Both live in the suburbs of an unnamed U.S. city, each with difficult family situations. Independently, they find a hidden spot in a local woods where time moves much slower and it is always evening—a threshold to another world. Hugh discovers it first in the story, but Irene has been visiting Tembreabrezi for years. There, she has an adoptive family, speaks the local language, and loves the threshold as a place of belonging.
When Hugh stumbles into the beginning place, Irene learns something is wrong in Tembreabrezi: the roads connecting the town to the rest of the country are closed, not physically but emotionally, because the townsfolk are paralyzed by fear. Irene resents Hugh’s intrusion, but they must work together. She struggles to pass through the gateway, while he sometimes cannot return to the real world. Traveling together lets them cross at will, so they return to Tembreabrezi. The town welcomes Hugh as a long-awaited hero, making Irene jealous—she longs for the admiration of the townsfolk, especially the Mayor, Sark, whom she has loved. Hugh, mostly unaware of her feelings, wants to complete a quest to win the hand of Allia, the Lord of the Manor’s daughter. They set off together to save the town and reopen the roads. They track down the monster causing the fear, and Hugh kills it, though he is injured. Irene helps him reach the gateway back to their world. On the other side, the trust and love they’ve found opens a new kind of gateway, offering them a future together free from their families’ destructive patterns.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Cover Artist
- Griesbach Kroeber
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Publisher
- Harper and Row
- Pub Date
- 1980
- Media Type
- Print (hardback)
- Pages
- 183
- Isbn
- 0-06-012573-X
- Dewey
- 813/.54 19
- Congress
- PS3562.E42 B4 1980
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The narrative focuses on the journey of two main characters, Irene Pannis and Hugh Rogers, from adolescence to adulthood in two alternate worlds: the real world and the idyllic Tembreabrezi. The story is told in alternating chapters from their starkly alternating viewpoints. They live in the suburbs of an unnamed US city, in difficult circumstances and with troubled families. They independently discover a place hidden in a local wood, where time flows much more slowly than in the outside world and it is always evening, a 'threshold' between their own world and another. Hugh finds it first within the story, but Irene has already been visiting the other world for some years. She has another life there in the town of Tembreabrezi, an adoptive family, and has learned the local language. Both love the beginning place, feeling a sense of belonging and home there that they lack elsewhere.
Reader's Guide
The Beginning Place has been subject to critical studies comparing it to C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and William Shakespeare's As You Like It. Michael Moorcock observed common elements between this novel and Robert Holdstock's award-winning fantasy novel Mythago Wood, including alternate worlds and forest settings. In 2004, Le Guin was awarded the American Library Association's Margaret Edwards Award for young adult literature in part for The Beginning Place, along with her Earthsea novels and The Left Hand of Darkness. In 2018, the Finnish translation by Jyrki Iivonen was nominated for the Tähtifantasia Award. The novel's epigraph, 'What river is this through which the Ganges flows?', is quoted from Jorge Luis Borges.
Did You Know?
- The novel was published under the title Threshold in 1986.
- The epigraph is a quote from Jorge Luis Borges.
- In 2004, Le Guin received the Margaret Edwards Award partly for this novel.
- The Finnish translation was nominated for the 2018 Tähtifantasia Award.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Beginning Place?
It is a 1980 short novel by Ursula K. Le Guin that interweaves realistic suburban American life with a fantastical realm called Tembreabrezi. The book was later reissued under the alternate title Threshold in 1986.
What is Tembreabrezi?
Tembreabrezi is an idyllic, otherworldly space that the two protagonists encounter as they move from adolescence into adulthood. It operates as a mythic parallel to their ordinary suburban existence, giving the novel its blend of realism and fantasy.
Who are the main characters in The Beginning Place?
The story follows two teenagers, Irene Pannis and Hugh Rogers, each dealing with difficult family situations in the suburbs of an unnamed U.S. city. The narrative alternates between their individual points of view chapter by chapter.
What is the 'Beginning Place' itself?
The Beginning Place is a hidden clearing in a local woods that both Irene and Hugh discover independently of one another. It acts as the threshold where their grounded, realistic lives begin to bleed into the fantasy world of Tembreabrezi.
Where does the epigraph of The Beginning Place come from?
The opening line, asking what river the Ganges flows through, is taken from Rabindranath Tagore's poetry collection Gitanjali. It sets a contemplative, spiritual tone for the novel's themes of passage and transformation.
More in Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin 1-20
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