This study compares the influence of the childhood homes of three Latin American authors on the creation of the microcosms in which their masterworks, Cien anos de soledad, Al filo del agua and Pedro Paramo, are set. The origins of the names of the locations are analyzed. The importance of the physical geography of the authors’ homelands is investigated as is the history of their countries, especially that part of history which has touched them personally. The influence of the people who surrounded them as children is observed and the magical, mystical qualities of the childhood experience are finally presented to complete the picture of how microcosms much broader and universally appealing than the authors’ real surroundings, yet somehow inextricably bound to them, were created.