IT'S ALWAYS FREEDOM VS SECURITY:

Many readers, then and now, have understood the book's dark planet Camazotz--a regimented place in which mothers in unison call their children in for dinner--to represent the Soviet Union. But the passage discovered by L'Engle's granddaughter presents a more nuanced worldview.

A never-before-seen section of Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" is shedding surprising light on the author's philosophy. WSJ's Jennifer Maloney reports. Photo: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Crosswicks, Ltd

In it, Meg has just made a narrow escape from Camazotz. As Meg's father massages her limbs, which are frozen from a jarring trip through space and time, she asks: "But Father, how did the Black Thing--how did it capture Camazotz?" Her father proceeds to lay out the political philosophy behind the book in much starker terms than are apparent in the final version.

He says that yes, totalitarianism can lead to this kind of evil. (The author calls out examples by name, including Hitler, Mussolini and Khrushchev.) But it can also happen in a democracy that places too much value on security, Mr. Murry says. "Security is a most seductive thing," he tells his daughter. "I've come to the conclusion that it's the greatest evil there is."

Ms. Voiklis said she wanted readers to know the book wasn't a simple allegory of communism. Instead, it's about the risk of any country--including a democracy--placing too much value on security. The tension between safety and personal freedom is an idea that resonates in today's politics.

"It's normal to be afraid," said Ms. Voiklis, who manages her late grandmother's estate full-time in New York. "But you can't let the fear control your decisions. Otherwise, you risk becoming like Camazotz."

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