Pilgrimage and The People by Zenna Henderson
"Pilgrimage and The People" is a collection of interconnected stories that explores the lives of a group of extraterrestrial refugees known as the People, who are living on Earth following the destruction of their home planet, the Home. These beings possess advanced abilities and must navigate their existence while concealing their true nature from the human population, referred to as "Earthers." The narrative begins with the story of Lea, a woman struggling with depression, who is rescued by Karen, one of the People, and introduced to their world through communal gatherings where their histories are shared and preserved.
The stories chronicle the Ingathering, the quest by the Cougar Canyon Group to find other members of the People and the blending of their lives with those of Blends—half-Earth, half-People children—and gifted Earthers. As the characters grapple with their identities and the challenges of living in exile, themes of belonging, loss, and the search for community emerge. The collection culminates in a pilgrimage to the New Home, where the People must make a critical choice between remaining on Earth or returning to their original home. Through its poignant storytelling, "Pilgrimage and The People" invites readers to reflect on themes of alienation, resilience, and the enduring quest for connection.
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Pilgrimage and The People
First published:Pilgrimage: The Book of the People (1961) and The People: No Different Flesh (1966)
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Science fiction—extrasensory powers
Time of work: Primarily the 1950’s and 1960’s, with some stories set in the 1980’s
Locale: Primarily the southwestern United States, with some stories set on “The Home”
The Plot
Pilgrimage: The Book of the People and The People: No Different Flesh form a chronicle of a number of the People, extraterrestrials living on Earth as refugees after the destruction of their own planet, the Home. Highly developed and psionically gifted, the People must conceal their differences in order to live among “Earthers” without attracting attention, yet they cannot let go of their true nature and abilities. Each book is composed of short stories loosely linked by a framing story. The stories originally were published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction between 1952 and 1966.
Pilgrimage begins with the story of Lea, a deeply depressed woman who is found by Karen, one of the People. Karen prevents Lea’s suicide and takes on the responsibility of reintroducing Lea to wonder in an attempt to help her defeat depression. Lea is included in a series of gatherings of the People at which the past is “Assembled,” or told as stories, and recorded for posterity. The stories are primarily of the Ingathering: the search by the Cougar Canyon Group for others of the People and the gravitation of the lost People, of Blends (People-Earth half-breeds), and of gifted Earthers to the Group.
In “Ararat,” the first People story published (1952), Karen tells of the coincidental finding of the Group by Valancy, the competent but unremarkable teacher sent to teach the bright but disturbing children of Cougar Canyon. Valancy turns out to be one of the People. “Gilead” is the story of two Blends, Peter and his sister Bethie, who set out to find the Group after the deaths of their parents. They have only the general impression of a direction given by their mother before she died. “Pottage” tells of Karen’s Outsider friend Melodye who, upon arriving in Bendo to teach school, discovers another Group, fearful, hiding, denying their birthright, and unaware of the presence of others of the People. “Wilderness” introduces the concept of an Earther, Dita, who possesses some of the Gifts of the People. Because of their similar feelings of being different, Dita becomes involved with Low, one of the lost People. In “Captivity,” paraplegic schoolteacher Miss Carolle deals with the most troublesome of troublesome children, “the Francher kid,” who is fed up with people and ready to declare himself something apart, in the worst way possible. He does not know of what he truly is a part. In “Jordan,” the reason for the gatherings is revealed through Bram’s narration of the arrival of People from the New Home to “rescue” those on Earth. This is the pilgrimage of the title: leaving Earth for the New Home. Each of the People must decide whether to stay or to go.
In The People, the story “No Different Flesh” tells of a young couple. Mark, a college professor, is on leave to write a cutting-edge science text, and Meris is recovering from depression following the death of their baby. Her acceptance of their loss coincides with the discovery of a lost child. They care for the child, although they are puzzled by her many unusual abilities, and inadvertently reunite her with her father, Johannan, victim of a hit-and-run accident. Johannan is from the New Home, searching for the Cougar Canyon group. When Mark insists that the juveniles responsible for Johannan’s accident be arrested and tried, the driver of the car destroys Mark’s manuscript, which is then recovered with the aid of the People. In the following stories, Mark and Meris are visited by the People, who “Assemble” for them.
Bethie tells several stories. “Deluge” contains Eva-lee’s memories of the building of the ships and the destruction of the Home. “Angels Unawares” is a grim tale of the persecution and murder of the People as witches by members of a strict Christian cult; it is primarily the story of Lytha, Bethie’s aunt. “Troubling of the Water” is the parallel tale of Timmy, Lytha’s lover, who is sheltered by a farming family during a drought and repays them by finding water.
Debbie tells the last two stories. Her own is “Return,” detailing her spoiled-brat behavior to the Outsiders who aid her when she and her husband crash upon returning to Earth from the New Home. “Shadow on the Moon” describes Bethie’s children Shadow and Remy, and their discovery of a crazed hermit who has built a rocket to go to the moon. The stories in this second volume are predominantly of the destruction of the Home and the trials of the early days of exile, although some are set after the pilgrimage to the New Home.