Certain Women

by Madeleine L'Engle

Book Overview

An award-winning author explores the meaning of family in a novel that draws parallels between the lives of a modern man and an ancient biblical king. As he struggles with cancer, legendary screen... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060652071
• ISBN13: 9780060652074
• Release Date: October 1993
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Exploring the Gift

Madeleine L'Engle was a remarkably gifted writer, having written novels for both adults and children that explored serious issues with intelligence and fearlessness. "Certain Women" is one of her novels for adults, and it is full of L'Engle's trademark ponderings on love and faith, and how our actions shape our existence. While it can be tedious at parts, it is overall a rich and fulfilling story. Emma Wheaton is a successful and talented stage actress, who inherited her acting skills from her father, the great actor David Wheaton. In the last summer of his life, Emma has taken time off from her career to be with him as he tries to make ammends with his past offenses and pass peacefully from this life. For David Wheaton was a vastly complicated man, who married and divorced ofen, spawning a brood of children as varied as they are talented. One of David's main regrets is that he never got to perform as the biblical King David upon the stage in a play that was never finished by Emma's husband. As father and daughter spend their summer together, they reread and rehash the play and the past, the father finally coming to understanding and forgiveness, and Emma finally coming to terms with the direction her life must take. At times, L'Engle seems to stretch too much to make the stories of the two Davids intersect, and sections of the novel that focus on the unfinished play can be a trifle tedious. However, when the similarities work between the two stories, they unfold and intertwine flawlessly and effortlessly. Although the novel is set between th 1930s and the 1960s, one of the beauties of L'Engle's prose is a sense of timelessness. The trials of the Wheaton clan are real and still exist in the world today. As always, the questions that are raised about love and faith apply to all time, especially the questions regarding warfare, whether it be biblical or WWII or the present day. "Certain Women" is a richly rewarding read and a true testament to the artistry that Madeleine L'Engle wove every time her pen touched paper.

A rich read

L'Engle's story will draw you into warm, rich but complicated family relationships, as Emma, the main character tells the stories in a lyrical way. Emma tells of her father, a well-known actor, David Wheaton, whose life is oftentimes compared to the other famous David ~~ King David of the Biblical times. David Wheaton has as many if not less wives and 11 children. Emma narrates the stories as the one child who has always remained close to her father. It is also a wonderful and encompassing story about love and forgiveness as David nears the end of his life.Emma's husband struggles with writing a play for David Wheaton ~~ he would have played the great Hebrew king ~~ and interspersed throughout the narration are the stories of David's wives. Despite what some critics have said about this book, it is a rich read. I don't mind reading about Biblical times ~~ in fact, I love it. I find it fascinating. And L'Engle does a wonderful job giving King David's wives a voice throughout the ages and in a way the reader can understand. And reading about David Wheaton's wives, Emma's grandparents who have provided her with a heritage of rich spiritual lives, and the acceptance of life and death at the end.It is a book I highly recommend for daughters who enjoy a close relationship with their fathers ~~ as it does explore a man's regrets that he didn't live a better life for his children or make the time for them ~~ but Emma forgives him anyways because that is who he is.If you have a few days to spare, pick this book up. Go off into a quiet place and read it. You will fall in love with the lyrical writing style if not with the characters. It is definitely one of my top 100 favorite books to read. It's well worth the time reading.

Another very healing book by Madeline L'Engle

_Certain Women_ and _A Severed Wasp_ are two of Ms. L'Engle's adult fiction books that capture the lives of born-artistic, talented souls... whether they are musicians, actors, writers, artists, etc. It helps me to understand that, even though I have some musical talent (more, perhaps than many), I do not have a musician's soul, because I do not have that hunger to create... to pursue this gift to its utmost. Ms. L'Engle's writing is wonderfully clear and descriptive... even the most horrific scenes were deftly, simply written, capturing the moment without yielding to the sordid. Also amazing is the retelling of the King David story, but from the women's point of view; I learned more about King David in this book than I *ever* learned in Sunday School!

Great Introduction to L'Engle's "grown-up" Novels

This book is as interesting as MLE's "Wrinkle in Time" series, only for adults. The book's unvarnished story of the life of David Wheaton, dying actor, told through the eyes of Emma, his actress daughter, kept me absorbed from beginning to end. It was for me, a great introduction to the larger body of the author's work. If read from the perspective of MLE as a writer of Christian non-fiction, it is an even better work of fiction. She acknowleges the world as it is, but treats her characters, with all of their flaws, gently.

Examination of the shaping influences of our lives

In her novel, Certain Women, internationally acclaimed author Madeleine L'Engle masterfully blends the historical account of Israel's King David and his wives with the fictional account of retired actor David Wheaton and his wives. Although David Wheaton's acting dream to play the role of King David in his son-in-law's play is unfulfilled, his life has, in many painfully real ways, imitated that of the giant-slaying David. Both are conquerors, heroes, celebrities, victims of passion, sorrowing fathers, tender lovers, penitent wanderers, inspirational symbols, unfaithful spouses, and pitiably vulnerable humans. As the shepherd of a uniquely extended family, David Wheaton's pivotal role in forcing the interaction of his loves and their children culminates in the weeks preceding his death, particularly as his closest child, Emma, faces the reality of the man her father is and his impact on her and others he has loved. This book clearly defines for the reader the shaping influences in our lives