Prentisstown, formerly known as New Elizabeth, is a settlement on New World and the main location of the book The Knife of Never Letting Go. It is named after Mayor Prentiss.
Appearance[]
Geographic Location[]
Prentisstown is situated in a forest near a swamp in the books. In the film, the town is situated in a forest.
Buildings[]
Prentisstown has a range of buildings including: a shop, a pub, a clinic, a jail, a broken petrol station, the Mayor's house, the Police Station, and the Church. A paved road runs through the centre of these buildings and farms surround it.
History[]
Pre-Series[]
New Elizabeth was established by the first ship of settlers on New World and was named after their Mayor, Jessica Elizabeth. After the war against the Spackle, the men of Prentisstown didn't stop and turned against the women because they had no noise. Mayor Elizabeth predicted their attack and evacuated some girls and younger boys through the swamp. Before she, the women and the men who didn't want to kill them could escape, the men attacked. All men from Prentisstown were declared criminals and Mayor Prentiss sent word that the town will be in exile. The men of Prentisstown agreed never to leave and if they did, the Mayor would hunt them down and kill them. The real history of Prentisstown was withheld from the boys until their thirteenth birthday. It is Prentisstown Law that a boy becomes a man on his thirteenth birthday (and a girl became a woman, when there were women in Prentisstown).
Chaos Walking trilogy[]
The Knife of Never Letting Go[]
Prentisstown appears in the beginning of the book as the birthplace and hometown of Todd Hewitt.
Chaos Walking (film)[]
Prentisstown is supposedly the only human settlement on New World. It was near the site where Viola Eade's ship crashed and the birthplace and hometown of Todd Hewitt. Almost all residents of Prentisstown left the settlement to chase Todd and Viola across the planet.
Residents[]
Humans[]
- Mayor Prentiss
- Mr. Prentiss Jr.
- Ben Moore
- Cillian Boyd
- Aaron
- Todd Hewitt
- Mr. Hammar
- Mr. Morgan
- Mr. O'Hare
- Mr. Collins
- Mr. Edwin
- Mr. McInerney
- Mr. Henratty
- Mr. Sullivan
- Mr. Cardiff
- Mr. Tate
- Mr. Kearney
- Mr. Gillooly
- Mr. Wallace
- Mr. Asbjornsen
- Mr. St. James
- Mr. Belgraves
- Mr. Smith the Older
- Mr. Smith With Nine Fingers
- Liam Smith/"Mr. Smith the Younger"
- Mr. Royal
- Reg Oliver
- Seb Mundy
- Mr. Phelps
- Dr. Baldwin
- Mr. Fox
- Mr. Turner
- Mr. Majoribanks
- Mr. Humphris
Dogs[]
Trivia[]
- The population of Prentisstown is 147 (146 men and 1 boy) as of the start of The Knife of Never Letting Go.