A Circle of Quiet

by Madeleine L'Engle

This journal shares fruitful reflections on life and career prompted by the author's visit to her personal place of retreat near her country home.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Writing, Biography Memoir, Spirituality, Faith

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d be surprised if the majority of readers have not read “A Wrinkle in Time.” It is undoubtedly her most loved book, although the road to a publisher was a rather long journey. Nevertheless, she did, and the rest is her story, part of which is contained in this part memoir / journal, part love story, part spiritual journey, and also in part advice for writers, her teachings and observations as Writer-in-Residence. Reflections on her family, both the one she was born into, and the one she and her husband Hugh Franklin (an actor with many credits, both theatre and television, but possibly best known for his role as Dr. Charles Tyler on “All My Children”) created, her feelings about moving from NYC to Crosswicks, life in a small town, and her love of nature.

This covers a lot of bases, and a significant amount of a lifetime, but it never feels as though she’s doing more than just having a conversation with a friend. A string of chats on the front porch.

Originally written in 1972, this will be available for the first time for e-readers. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that this is outdated, although there are some references that are dated, but …. Some are more applicable these many years later.

“This sense of urgency has always been with my children, and those I work and talk with. They’ve grown up knowing that at any moment we could blow up our planet if some madman pushes the wrong button.”

“….we were listening to the news and when the weather report was announced he said, “Storms tomorrow. If there is a tomorrow.”

For me, the topics that grabbed me the most were her descriptions of the surroundings of Crosswicks, their home in a small town surrounded by woods, and reading, although I enjoyed reading all of this.

“I read while I’m stirring the white sauce, while I’m in the subway, in the bath.”

There’s a lightness to her tone in much of her writing that makes this very easy reading, even when the topic might be heavier, but most stories are funny, or inspirational, some delightfully observational. I enjoyed this immensely.

Pub Date: 29 Nov 2016

Many thanks to Open Road Integrated Media, NetGalley, and for the gift that was Madeleine L’Engle

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect use for a reissue...republishing the memoir/journal of a woman who truly thought about her life, her family, her writing, teaching, and her place in the world (and not in any grandiose sense). And there is careful thought here, about not only her family, her writing, her life, but also about the major questions of all life: good and evil, the presence or absence of God, how should children be taught meaningfully, how should one try to live a meaningful life.

Within these pages we meet the well known author of A Wrinkle in Time, who takes us through a young writer's struggles to create...and then to be recognized. We also see how her personal family develops both in New York City and in their beloved out-of-city home at Crosswicks, where they lived when her children were young. We also meet the church choir member who loves singing but isn't so certain about God. We see her at workshops helping teachers of children learn how best to approach them in meaningful and helpful ways. We also see her at the Iowa Writing workshop working with other writers as a guide and teacher.

L'Engle lived many existences but appears to have remained her same true self in them all. This was an exciting, at times delightful and inspiring book to read and I believe I will go on to read more episodes of her journal. Any book that so frequently finds me nodding in agreement or amazement at the "rightness" of something said, or highlighting for re-reading or possible quote, has left a mark on me. I very definitely recommend this to those interested not only in memoir but also those interested in writing, teaching and in the art of self-discovery.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim – for a quarter – from a library book sale, and I’m so glad I did. If, like me, you only knew L’Engle through her Wrinkle in Time children’s series, this journal should come as a revelation. I didn’t know she wrote any nonfiction for adults. The Crosswicks books cannot be called simple memoirs, however; there’s so much more going on. In this journal (published 1972) of a summer spent at their Connecticut farmhouse, L’Engle muses on theology, purpose, children’s education, the writing life, the difference between creating stories for children and adults, neighbors and fitting into a community, and much besides. My copy is studded with Post-it flags.

I can see these autobiographical works being especially helpful to aspiring writers. I would compare them to May Sarton’s in subject matter, with the main difference being that L’Engle has more to say about religion and family. One of my favorite parts was a brilliant full-scale example of showing-not-telling. For a while the Franklins lived at Crosswicks full-time and her husband Hugh took a break from acting to run the local general store. She could have just written “we had snooty Jewish neighbors from New York City who never fit in until their house caught fire,” but instead spins a wonderful twenty-page story out of it – and story it is; she admits she has taken liberties with the characters and chronology, but the essence is true.

Here’s a few sample quotes:

If a writer says he doesn’t care whether he is published or not, I don’t believe him. I care. Undoubtedly I care too much. But we do not write for ourselves alone. I write about what concerns me, and I want to share my concerns. I want what I write to be read. Every rejection slip—and you could paper walls with my rejection slips—was like the rejection of me, myself, and certainly or my amour-propre. I learned all kinds of essential lessons during those years of rejection, and I’m glad to have had them, but I wouldn’t want to have to go through them again.

Of course. It’s all been said better before. If I thought I had to say it better than anybody else, I’d never start. Better or worse is immaterial. The thing is that it has to be said, by me, ontologically. We each have to say it, to say it our own way. Not of our own will, but as it comes out through us. Good or bad, great or little: that isn’t what human creation is about. It is that we have to try; to put it down in pigment, or words, or musical notations, or we die.


[And a lovely exchange from Wrinkle about free will (the book went completely over my head as a child; I think I’ll have to read it again soon):]

Calvin: “You mean you’re comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?”

“Yes,” Mrs Whatsit said. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.”

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timing is everything. I was ready for this one at this time. Nothing fancy, just a long summer’s afternoon discussion with a friend. I just listened.

While this book could be considered dated, I found it strangely prescient and relevant.

[Anne Bogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous, insightful, fascinating. Mothers and writers and thinkers should all read this first installment of the Crosswicks Journals.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose the isness of anything would be frightening without the hope of God. An oak tree is, and it doesn't matter to it-at least Sarte thinks it doesn't; it is not a thinking oak. Man is; it matters to him; this is terrifying unless it matters to God, too, because this is the only possible reason we can matter to ourselves: not because we are sufficient unto ourselves-I am not: my husband, my family, my friends give me meaning and, in a sense, my being, so that I, like the burning bush, or the oak tree, am ontological: essential: real. (PG 8)

Wonderful thoughts, wonderful woman. Discusses religion and lack of religion, her family, her writing, facts of life. Written in the 1970s but it still applies to today; wars and unnecessary violence and Love, lots of talk of Love and joy.

I look at many of the brilliant, sophisticated intellectuals of my generation, struggling through psychoanalysis, balancing sleeping pills with waking pills, teetering on the thin edge of despair, and think that perhaps they have not found the answer after all. (PG 42)

***************************************
I wish I would have left it alone... I saw, by chance, an article that basically said Madeleine L'Engle is full of SH*T. And I read this article and it interviewed her children that say the same thing. She herself states that her journals, her personal, handwritten journals, are fiction and it's okay if she does this. Her novels could be considered non-fiction, whatever her mood desires. Her husband wasn't as wonderful as I imagined him. He was a philanderer and an alcoholic. Her son died at the age of forty-seven due to liver failure from alcoholism but she will never admit this. The kids hated her books and she made up her life.

I'm only annoyed because I freaking loved this and my rating won't change but it's a made up journal and even her feelings seem made up. Read it as fiction. I do hope she believes in God though. She could have sold me a bathing suit in winter. She's good but don't ever Google someone you admire. They end up being caca.

Well except Jesus Christ. He's the real deal. Christ is KING!

[April-lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've grown up reading Madeline L'Engle's writing. I don't remember exactly when I first read A Wrinkle in Time, but I think it's safe to say I was in elementry school, both exhilarated by life and by learning, and uncertain of where I fit into anything, especially with my peers. I'm just now realizing that for most of my life until the past few years, I've felt like my existence in this world was somewhat of a mistake.

I've turned to Wrinkle and the other books in the Time Quartet over the years whenever I feel frustrated, restless, lonely, ugly, or even just bored. These stories alway help me feel braver and stronger - that my existence here is definitely not a mistake, that there is something bigger than me, that I have a purpose and a place in the universe.

I started A Circle of Quiet today on my lunch break, and I'm about halfway through after a few hours of reading tonight. Even in her non-fiction, L'Engle inspires me and helps me reach my center. She raises questions about subjects that have been heavy on my mind recently - love, faith, art, responsibility, creativity - and yet I never feel inadequate for not having good answers to any of my questions, or to hers. She reminds me to have faith in the world around me and in life.

I have a feeling this is another book I will be turning to time and time again.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after visiting a great friend who gave me a copy, and fell in love. I loved that she is a writer and a "normal" person at the same time. The unashamed honest humanity of it. And the beautiful musings on being, and being happy. The passion for ontology. Good for anyone trying to feel peaceful or normal or just wanting to share in someone else's life for a while.

[Christaaay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeleine L’Engle, beloved author of such Newbery winners as A Wrinkle in Time and A Ring of Endless Light, begins her series of four memoirs with A Circle of Quiet.

About : Wife-mother-writer. This is how Madeleine refers to herself, and it’s just one of many things that make this book feel so relevant. I can hardly believe A Circle of Quiet was published almost half a century ago; and I am so glad Open Road Integrated Media is republishing it as an ebook.

L’Engle is an irresistible study in contradictions: episcopal and agnostic. An American born, European bred New Yorker who loved her country home in rural Connecticut. A writer, theoretical physicist and theologian (unofficially, those last two). An apolitical, but concerned environmentalist. A successful author married to a successful actor. It is she who first encouraged me (through her books; I wish I could have met her! She died in 2007) to seek harmony between modern science and my own faith (although my thoughts on the subject fall more in the realm of C.S. Lewis's conclusions, in The Abolition of Man, than in hers).

I wrote a paper on her poetry for one of my final BA projects—I studied literature and creative writing, which is why I generally stick to reviewing novels instead of nonfiction. But when A Circle of Quiet popped up on Netgalley, I turned in my chair to look at my book shelves and spotted the pristine, unread copy that I'd bought at a library sale a few years before...

I knew the time had come. I picked it up and drifted away, happily bemused, in the current L’Engle’s quietly explosive ruminations.

A Circle of Quiet breezes through the decade Madeleine spent at her rural “commune” of Crosswicks, raising her children and writing books that publishers refused to buy. I say the book “breezes” through this period because I felt light, reading much of it, as I already have wrestled with many of her concepts in her other works; but for readers new to her bewildering assortment of convictions, the experience of reading a L’Engle memoir may be less of a breeze and more of a gale.

A Circle of Quiet examines creativity, cosmology, science, God—all the big questions. But Madeleine is especially taken with the concept of ontology, in this volume. The study of existence and being.

When speaking with troubled teenagers, her thought was,

“They really don’t want me to answer their questions, nor should I. If I have not already answered them ontologically, nothing I say is going to make any sense.”

She sides with rebellious teenagers on most things, at least in her heart, which might be why her books have always been so appealing to young people. Her ideas about ontology did give me a calming peace, as a teenager. Take a look at the stars and breathe. It's okay. That kind of thing.

She also talks a lot about how mythological truth is different from provable fact. Whenever she wrote (fiction, memoir and everything else), she drew directly from her own experience, perhaps more so than most writers I’ve read before; but she doesn’t stick close to the facts. She tells a story to make her point. While a long, important story in her memoir perfectly communicates her feelings about a certain city couple (the Brechsteins) who have moved into her rural community, she openly acknowledges that the exact facts—their names, the locations, the words spoken in their encounters—are not exact.

"Thinking about the Brechsteins, attempting the not-quite possible task of separating fact from fiction in this sketch, teaches me something about the nature of reality. On one level, one might say that the Brechsteins are not real. But they are. It is through the Brechsteins, through the world of the imagination which takes us beyond the restrictions of provable fact, that we touch the hem of truth."

The truth, not the facts, are what concern her. Creative writing is not journalism, she harps.

But even as she tackles heavy topics, she illustrates them with highly entertaining anecdotes, such as this one about entering church for the first time in a while, after moving into Crosswicks:

Madeleine to the minister:"'As long as I don't need to say any more than that I try to live as though I believe in God, I would like very much to come to church—if you'll let me.'

So I became choir director."

Overall : While the memoir can occasionally feel childish in its emotional coloring, it is more often delightfully childlike—a distinction she herself makes—in its wonder and joy for life itself. She's a sharp observer, even if her observations may, at times, be suspect. I really enjoyed A Circle of Quiet for the illumination of her life, convictions and writing habits. And I already have a copy of book II! Yay!

Recommendation : If you enjoyed the theoretical and emotional tones to Madeleine L’Engle’s stories, or if you’re just curious about this career and family woman, you might very well enjoy any of her memoirs or other nonfiction works. (I personally adored Walking on Water.)

If you liked this review, you can read more of my speculative fiction reviews on my blog

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Circle of Quiet is a rambling quasi-memoir on various aspects of life in general, but with a significant amount of musings on writing and artistic life. The latter was the element that I enjoyed the most. The broader philosophies that L'Engle wades into I didn't find quite as satisfying, probably because the brand of "faith" that she describes doesn't seem solid enough to base a clear worldview on. L'Engle identifies as both Anglican and agnostic, but while she affirms belief in a loving God as creator of the world, I didn't get any sense of true orthodox Christian theology in her beliefs. While she makes often perceptive, pithy observations about life, culture and relationships, as well as a few clear-eyed comments about the failings of the modern Christian church, in the philosophical sense I always felt there was a bit of a missing piece somewhere.

The real highlights, though, are L'Engle's reflections and reminiscences of the writing life. Here I was able to instantly identify with many of the experiences and feelings she describes, and to draw a good deal of amusement and encouragement from them. (The anecdote about her reaction to learning she had won the Newberry Medal is hilarious.) I also appreciate the way she identifies herself as writer, wife and mother all in one, and expresses equal dedication to all those aspects of her life. I'm copying a few of my favorite passages on writing here, as much for my own benefit as anyone else's:

I think that all artists, regardless of degree of talent, are a painful, paradoxical combination of certainty and uncertainty, of arrogance and humility, constantly in need of reassurance, and yet with a stubborn streak of faith in their validity, no matter what.

...I am often, in my writing, great leaps ahead of where I am in my thinking, and my thinking has to work its way slowly up to what the "superconscious" has already shown me in a story or poem. Facing this does help to eradicate do-it-yourself hubris from an artist's attitude towards his painting or music or writing. My characters pull me, push me, take me further than I want to go, fling open doors to rooms I don't want to enter, throw me out into interstellar space, and all this long before my mind is ready for it.

...A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn't diminish us, but enlarges us, and we, too, want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe. This surge of creativity has nothing to do with competition, or degree of talent. When I hear a superb pianist, I can't wait to get to my own piano, and I play about as well now as I did when I was ten. A great novel, rather than discouraging me, simply makes me want to write. This response on the part of any artist is the need to make incarnate the new awareness we have been granted through the genius of someone else.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-issue, ARC for review.

I love L'Engle's books and from this journal she seems like she would have been a lovely person (if a bit of an overachiever...I think I would have always felt I should have been accomplishing more had I known her!). This is also a book I've been meaning to read for years so I was glad to have an opportunity to read and review this new edition published by Open Road (I hope they keep the beautiful cover with the purple flower).

L'Engle notes "a circle is considered the perfect form of art" and believes that all people need a "circle of quiet" in which to just be their true selves, a place where one can indulge one's introvertedness (I don't think that's a word) - hers is an area of their home at Crosswicks, but it can be anywhere that is uniquely yours. In this book L'Engle examines her roles as writer, wife and mother and, if I'm being honest, I think it's a book that my mother would enjoy more than I did. It's not that it's dated - for having first been published in 1971 it still seems of today, but L'Engle also seems....and it pains me to say this....a bit of a fuddy-duddy. She's fifty-one when she writes the book and at the time of the writing four generations of her family are living under the same roof at Crosswicks, her mother (there's a chapter devoted to her, but not much else) as well as some baby grandchildren. Her children seem just too, too delightful (oh, but if I had children, how much would I love it if they made random references to kid lit?) as does her wonderful husband. She notes "'I am a happy person'" and she has every reason to be, and though she alludes to times in her life that, perhaps, weren't as happy, she doesn't focus on them.

Perhaps what made the book seem a bit dated, at least for me, is that L'Engle is quite religious, though she claims not to be. I think perhaps some of her ideas might have raised a few eyebrows in the early 70s, and among her peers, but today we would see her as fairly prudish, I think, and though she despairs, even in the 70s that "the word 'Christian' means for so many people smugness, and piosity, and holier-than-thouness," what might not have come across that way almost fifty years ago reads a bit differently now. She feels very strongly about young people embracing religion, and committing to marriage, and she also has strong views on obscenity and parenting. However, the world has changed quite a bit and while some of L'Engle's core beliefs may still stand, some of the specifics seem outdated and a bit like a lecture from your grandmother. So, while I liked the gentle nature of the book, I couldn't quite fall in love with it in the way that I had hoped.

[Jennifer Estep · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much, I read it in small pieces so I could savor it. A Circle of Quiet is one of my favorite books of the year, maybe even of my lifetime. Ms. L'Engle's voice speaks so assuredly, winding bits and thoughts that seem somehow unrelated into a profound yet simple point over and over again. I especially love her shared experiences about her writing career, her family life, her quiet solitude, and her faith. A beautiful, much-treasured book.

[Silvia Cachia]

A Circle of Quiet, by Madeleine L'Engle, 
#1 in the 4 of her Croswicks Journals
Published in 1971, ★★★✫

I saw that my friend Anne White read and recommended this book, and when I saw it at the last book store sale, 6 months ago or so, for $1.00, I was excited. This book and  Flannery O'Connor's Complete Short Stories were the major hits that sale. Which reminds me that I truly have many exceptional great titles I need to read. This reminds me of a title that has mixed reviews among my friends and acquaintances, Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home. I read from my shelves, but I keep buying books. My book spending is not problematic or out of control. If it were, I'd stop or slow it down to a reasonable pace. And I often go through my books, and pick those I'm not interested in anymore for some reason, and turn them in at that same local bookstore for credit. I truly pay very little for the books that interest me, I'm privileged to find them at very good prices. I also use the library for audios or Kindle books. Enough. Back to the book. It's difficult to review it since it's thoughts and anecdotes. This is just a short and informal record of my impressions.

I liked the book, its confidential tone. It was like sitting down for a coffee with Madeleine every time I opened it. In it, she shares as much as she can share about her home life, her relationship with her husband, -a theater actor-, with her children, friends, and community. Crosswicks, the name of this series of three books from which A Circle of Quiet is the first title, is the name of the place in NJ where she had a summer home.

What I appreciated the most in this book were her thoughts about art, writing, youth. How she speaks about science versus myth, how myth and fantasy relate to faith, and the mysterious. I found this two year old article of an English teacher who speaks of what L'Engle and C.S. Lewis meant to her. She talks about the whole Crosswicks series. One of them is devoted to her courting, marriage, and life with her husband, the actor Hugh Franklin. The article gave me a good insight of something I felt while reading this book and others similar to it, (such as The Life Giving Home, by the Clarksons), the problem with books that tell about our lives. I like Jeanette Walls's approach to this issue in her novel The Great Castle. When I read it, knowing that it was based on her own life, I had to forget about that. It's hyperbolic in some places, it wouldn't work if we keep comparing it to reality. I agree then, that it's easier to 'write about ourselves through fiction'. Sometimes, as the article remarks, we find the fictionalized characters of an author to be very real, while the real people portrayed in the books appears fictional.

I've noticed that when talking to others about my past, or my family in Madrid, etc. During our vacation, my parents, siblings and I had a very intense talk. We all related how their parenting felt for each of us. While we have some common experiences, and there's a degree of objectivity in any situation, but a book or memoir it's not a compilation of facts, neither does fall one hundred percent into fiction. Probably, L'Engle did what I do when I talk to others about my extended family, I do focus on the positive, I place problems or bad experiences into a wider context, I find meaning. What I appreciate about books like this, it's that the ideas, concepts, the world views the author presents, are nicely tangled up with personal anecdotes into a peculiar life narrative. Frankly, I'm not the one to check what's mentioned in the book against facts or second opinions. But I warn you, many times the children of the author, or those around, don't see the match between how a relative, or some events are told by the author, and the reality they lived.

After all, even the idea of realism in literature is a controversial one. Many authors speak eloquently about that. I never tire of reading Nabokov's thoughts on what's real in literature in his essay Good Readers and Good Writers, and this is something that, in return, reminds me of the polemic Dostoevsky versus Tolstoy, who's the greatest? Even Borges declared there's objective benchmarks to judge both their abilities. In that brainy and difficult to follow heated argument, I end up believing that while we can come up with an objective pattern, that pattern already favors one of the two. In one word, I still don't believe one to be greatest for the simple reason that literature can never be detached from its readers. C.S. Lewis, in his An Experiment in Criticism, poses a different premise, -a different kind of question if you wish. L'Engle also speaks beautifully as to how we don't live to answer questions, (Dorothy Sayers speaks to that in her The Mind of the Maker), maybe, she proposes, it's more important to ask ourselves, "are we asking the right questions?")

All of the sudden, instead of more typically reviewing A Circle of Quiet, I'm just disparaging about many books and a mix of ideas. But this is what good books provoke. They exhort you to make connections, to see themes that cut through many authors, (what does a writer do, how do we live, what's real, what's missing in our life), themes that occupy the mind of a reader.

A final word. This book is not brainy, it's philosophical, but it's also emotional. It's, I would say, a clever conversation with a fellow life sojourner. Madeleine L'Engle writes about the beauty and the meaning in her life. Maybe she has something to tell YOU too.

[Chalice · Rating 5 out of 5]

6-23-22
I hit those five stars so hard. This book is beautiful and thought provoking and full of so much lovely wisdom.

11-30-25
I could have written some of my favorite quotes in my own journal, but I would have been copying whole chapters down. XD

[Ella Edelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of meandering notes and thoughts, though only after I let go of any desire for something more linear or chronological. The throughline seemed to be ontology, which I attempted to grasp here and there as I read, and I found L'Engle's honest grappling with her own ontology or "is-ness" refreshing as she inhabited the roles of wife-mother-author as well as a handful of others and tried to understand her place across them all. Her voice is down-to-earth and earnest; I loved the glimpses into Crosswicks and her family life. This book (and the others, I suspect) is less conventional memoir and more gleanings from her journal recorded while writing, mothering, and thinking at her home in the country with vignettes from earlier and later woven throughout, and I enjoyed my time with it a lot.

[Kim Elder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with high expectations because it is loved by so many of my friends. I did enjoy reading about her writing especially regarding A Wrinkle in Time, a beloved book for me when I was a child. I suppose I was disappointed in the thoughts on her faith. At some places she describes herself as Anglican and at other times as agnostic (and it is not a progression of going from being agnostic to becoming Anglican). I have always heard her touted as a “Christian author” but in reading this book, I didn’t get a sense of a personal Christian faith just more a general belief that there is a god out there.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful.

L'Engle speculates on life and love and the nature of the universe, not to mention writing. Oh, the writing! It's fascinating to hear from a Newbery-winning author, someone whose work I've loved and whom I've looked up to since I was a child, and realize how similar we are in our quirks and fears and insecurities.

But what a hilarious, beautiful, intelligent woman she was! I'm anxious to get the rest of the Crosswicks journals, and I'm severely put out that her non-Time Quartet children's books seem to be mostly out of print! Grr.

[Natalie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It takes a tremendous amount of maturity, a maturity I don’t possess, to strike the balance of involvement/detachment which makes us creatively useful, able to be compassionate, to be involved in the other person’s suffering rather than in our own response to it. False compassion, or sentimentality, always leads us to escape by withdrawing, becoming cold and impassive and wounding.” -Madeleine L’engle on responding to death & dying

[Marina Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of book that I will never consider fully read, as it will be constantly re-read. A book to dip into and quote when things get tough. A book to inspire and guide, whether you agree or disagree with all that she says. A book all women writers, especially mothers, need to read.

[Diana Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much wisdom and many things to ponder, some better be forgotten, most to be re-evaluated, re-thought, re-filtered...Cool Mrs L'Engle ☺️

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The truth is, this book isn’t very quiet at all, or if it is, it’s the kind of quiet that’s humming and teeming under the surface with light and noise, fiery and provocative. The question it bites off is Madeleine’s “word of the summer,” ontology, isness, what it means to be and to be real and to know the truth and be free. If we live in time, she points out that we live in two times, chronos and kairos, the time which “changes things, makes them grow older, wears them out, and manages to dispose of them, chronologically, forever” and the second time in which we exist fully and positively, like the artist at work, the child at play, and friends at a dinner party. Kairos is the wakefulness of the part of ourselves that is burned and not consumed.

And how do we wake that part, or see beyond the reflections of reality that are shadows in Plato’s cave? With the help of images and icons, the tools of the writer and artist. We create things that are like other things (images), we create things that are self-consciously not like other things but still portrayals of them (icons), and we sometimes have to shatter both as iconoclasts. But writing is intensely personal and ontological, and good writing destroys platitudes and jargons, and embraces paradox and mystery.

Art “takes the chaos in which we live and shows us structure and pattern, not the structure of conformity which imprisons but the structure which liberates, sets us free to become growing, mature human beings.” Its limits are self-chosen and carefully drawn, circumscribing sex with mystery and violence with justice, finding no topic or word to be forbidden but knowing that is a restriction just as much as a permission. Art is a kind of remembering that recognizes that no part of the past is really forgotten, and it is not coercive or like propaganda, but draws on true myths (I think Madeleine L’Engle was a big fan of Lewis and George Macdonald).

So it’s a book that seems to be autobiographical, but if it’s talking about the personal life of the author, it’s only as an excuse to tackle all these huge and mysterious questions, like God and art and community. Which is, I think, the point. They can only be tackled personally—specifically—or not at all.

“After the glory which could be seen with human eyes, he began to see the glory which is beyond and after light.”

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved reading for as long as I remember. However, I do remember two books that my second grade teacher read aloud to our class that would affect the genre I would love for the rest of my life: (until present day anyway!) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and A Wrinkle in Time.

So when I saw this book written by the author of A Wrinkle in Time, I was eager to read it and learn more about her.

Crosswicks is the name of her New England farmhouse. As she writes this "letter" she describes it, she has just celebrated her fiftieth birthday, and during the summers four generations stay in her old house.
Every so often I need OUT;...-away from all these people I love most in the world-in order to regain a sense of proportion.
My special place is a small brook in a green glade, a circle of quiet from which there is no visible sign of human beings.

From this circle of quiet, she writes about many different things. She talks about religion and Christianity. She talks about what she finds the meaning of her life to be. Of course she talks about creativity, writing, art,and teaching throughout the book and she often uses other famous authors in her observations. My favorite part is when she discusses how she is still joyful despite being unhappy or in pain. She discusses so many different things. Some of her observations are more meaningful to me than other issues. But for those points alone, and for whatever things will be meaningful to you, this short book is worth a read.

Recommended for people interested in memoirs, writing or Madeleine L'Engle

This book was provided by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second work of nonfiction that I've read by L'Engle, and her nonfiction confirms her as one of my favorite authors. I love her style, her sense of humor, and the way in which she expresses her beliefs, simply yet profoundly and beautifully.
I read this book aloud with my dad, and we both loved it. We got into some good discussions about life, society, and God while reading it together. It's the first book that I've read completely with him. Usually, I just read to him whatever I happen to be reading, and there have been books that I've read mostly with him, but this is the first that we've read together from start to finish. It's nice to read aloud because of the beauty of L'Engle's writing.
I admire L'Engle. Not only was she an amazing author, but she was also unafraid to put herself out there, to express her doubts along with her faith. I want to be an author of her type, to make an impact and to write well at the same time, to tell a good story, but more importantly, to give my readers something and someone to relate to.
Sometimes, the book feels a little chaotic and disorganized, but L'Engle always makes her point and makes it well. Although there are some things she could have left out, everything eventually fits together and makes sense. I highly recommend this book to anyone questioning their belief in God, to writers and of "children's books" or "adult books" (you'll see why I used quotation marks when you read the book), and to fans of L'Engle and of inspirational nonfiction.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read this book again and it is still at the top of my list of favorite books. I needed this little jolt to jump start my reading again. I have not been reading as much lately and needed something to change that and this book did that for me. I guess I just needed a refill of greatness to fill my tank and get me back on the right track.

I really wish I knew something flowery and wonderful to say about this book. I cannot. All I can say is Maldeleine L'Enlgle just has a way of touching my heart and soul in a way that few other authors can. Many of her concerns over 40 years ago are concerns that I have now. The world has changed so much yet the important things are still the same.

[rivka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1972, this meandering journal has sections that are definitely dated, even obsolete. And like much of Madeleine's work, especially her non-fiction, it is overly mystical and in-your-face Christian for my tastes. (She doesn't even get the number of days of Chanukah right!)

Nonetheless, it is a lovely, sweet read, about parenthood and marriage and communities both large and small. About our responsibilities to those who came before and to those who come after. About the repeated rejections of Wrinkle before it was finally published -- and won the Newberry. About aging and about staying in touch with the child one was.

Definitely a must-read for anyone approaching (or in) middle age, and for writers dealing with rejection slips.

[ladydusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library. Want to own.

Another memoir for the year. Based at least partially on her journals and the writing of A Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle writes about her own journey to faith, ontology, time, love, writing, and joy. She writes with such beauty and honesty about her life during this period: her life as a person and what that means.

I can't wait to read Summer of the Great-Grandmother.

Commonplace entries here.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to read a few hundred pages of philosophical vomit, this is the book for you. It took me almost two miserable months to finish this and I should have just abandoned it. L'Engle rambles on about random events throughout her life, people she misjudged, the "youngsters" she counseled, and takes an entire page to answer "how did you feel winning the Newbury Medal?" Spoiler: she felt joy.

Ugh.

[Haley Baumeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time through this one in 6 years. Her meandering thoughts as a writer, wife, and mother were just what I needed in this season. On to the next three Crosswicks Journals!

*If you need a push to read them, let this essay of Haley Stewart's be your catalyst: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/life...

[Mary K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was lovely but the second half was often repetitive, tedious, and sometimes saccharine and moralistic.