The Tombs of Atuan (1971)

Tenar is raised as a priestess whose sacred role has consumed even her name. The daily routines and the labyrinth she guards make her commitment understandable before a stranger unsettles it. Le Guin takes the emotional cost of questioning a whole world seriously, rather than treating escape as a quick intellectual victory. A short, concentrated examination of religious formation and freedom. It is the second Earthsea book; A Wizard of Earthsea provides the earlier context.