


When they receive the news of impending nuclear war caused by the dictator "Mad Dog Branzillo", Mrs. Calvin has become a scientist and is in Britain at a conference Calvin's mother Branwen Maddox O’Keefe joins Meg's family for Thanksgiving dinner.

Meg is now married to Calvin and is expecting their first child. The book opens on Thanksgiving evening, 10 years after the events of A Wind in the Door. The book's title is an allusion to the poem "Morning Song of Senlin" by Conrad Aiken. It was first published in 1978 with cover art by Diane Dillon. A Swiftly Tilting Planet is a science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the third book in the Time Quintet.
