Customer Reviews

Love Letters

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It took me two read-throughs to properly appreciate this book. At first, it reads like 60s romance fiction, which is when it was originally written. Upon a second, more careful reading, the true (and very typical L'Engle) message comes through... Life's set-backs can rock us to the core, and we can take time to grieve, but we should not turn our back on Life and Love (of self, of others, etc.) and give in to Nothingness. Also of interest, in typical L'Engle "nepotism," (something I truly enjoy) there are scenes in this book that are referred to in another one of her books, _Certain Women_.

This is one of my favorite L'Engle books! I'd put it into a category called the "Europe Collection". Also in this collection would be "And Both Were Young", and The Small Rain". Madeleine weaves a mesmerizing tapestry of Sr. Mariana Alcoforado, passionate Portuguese nun, and Cotty, frightened American changeling. A companion resource to this novel should be "The Letters of a Portuguese Nun," now out of print, but contains original artwork by Pablo Picasso. Mariana's story will catch our stomachs on the verge of somersaults. Tears come to my eyes,three cheers, L'Engle!!!

I read all of L'Engle's young adult novels before I started with her more obscure novels-- I read this one for the first time when I was nineteen, and found one line in it which I'll carry with me forever. "The heart makes a god of the one who awakens it first." Love Letters is a deep and perceptive novel, and will make you think about your life in ways you haven't thought about it before. I can't think of a higher compliment for a novel.

Madeleine L'Engle is best known for her works of children's fiction, so much so that her works for adults are often overlooked or unknown. Such seems to be the case with her 1966 novel, "Love Letters". Perhaps its somewhat fluffy title does it an injustice, for this is no romance in the sense that the title may imply, but rather a well-crafted exploration of love and loss that intertwines fact and fiction and religion all while mesmerizing the reader.

L'Engle's tale begins with Charlotte Napier, a young woman fleeing her husband to seek out her mother-in-law in Portugal. Her flight is precipitated by the death of their five-year-old son and the couple's inability to grieve together. Charlotte finds herself drawn to a book of letters, purported to have been written by a Portuguese nun to a French soldier who was her lover. Charlotte sees much of herself, perhaps too much, in the young Mariana Alcoforado as she tries to come to terms with love, marriage, loss, and belief. L'Engle artfully and effortlessly combines the two women's stories, separated by three hundred years, seamlessly interjecting questions and thoughts that pertain to both. Charlotte spent most of her youth in convent schools but has rejected God; Mariana promised herself to the Lord but is blinded by unexpected love. In her depiction of these two women who experience great love and loss, L'Engle makes observations that apply to everyone who has ever experienced or questioned what love is supposed to be.

L'Engle's novel is a work of fiction: although the "Letters of a Portuguese Nun" do exist (whether they themselves are a work of fact or fiction has been hotly debated since they were first published), L'Engle and her characters do not necessarily accept them as fact. In the afterword for the novel, L'Engle said that she was glad to have a chance to republish this work so that she could change the ending, one with which she had never been happy. Since I feel that the ending is a bit rushed after a tremendous feat of intertwined storytelling and especially since this is a hard to find novel, it makes me curious what the original ending was. This is a non-romance book about love - what it means to love and be loved and to be open to love - in soul and heart and mind. It is a shining example of the genius of Madeleine L'Engle.

First, let me say I love Madeleine L'Engle generally, especially the Austins, And Both Were Young, and a few of her adult works. I recently re-read this, having first read it about 35 years ago. I really love the whole story of the nun and I think L'Engle's portrayal of the spiritual issues in Mariana's story is wonderful, the characters are gripping and the whole thing would have been a great novel on its own. Charlotte/Patrick/Violet, I am less sure about. Patrick behaved, in my mind, appallingly throughout. Yes, maybe she loved him but he gave her back nothing--- not his attention, not his support and not his kindness. I cant imagine her accepting Patrick's saying to her, during a difficult labor, "Can't you do anything right?" If her pain was causing him so much grief that he could be that cruel, then HE had a major problem, and I can't beleive she would allow herself to be continually hurt by his use of her as an emotional dumping ground for his own lacks. I don't believe that God would countenance her putting up with him as fidelity to one she loved. I believe He would want her to help heal him, and if not, at least not to further crush herself. This is not ego- this is proper respect for His creation.
I realize this was written before the therapy society-- which doesnt always have the answers either. It was also written at a time when women "put up with" a lot more than they do now. But I was really upset that Charlotte continued to support the outrageous behavior, disguised as over-arching love, of her husband (and his mother).
Madeleine, I wish you were still alive so we could discuss this! Otherwise, it is a beautiful book!

I started reading Madeleine L'engle's childrens' books when I was 10. Now that I'm I'm 16, I've started to read her adult books. All of them are excellent, and her work has never dissapointed me. She writes with emotion and beautiful vivid descriptions. I love her books! "Love Letters" is one of L'engle's best books. She portrays human emotions with honesty and compassion. Throughout this book I began to realize that true love wasn't perfect. True love suffers, and true love causes pain, but despite these facts, love it still beautiful. L'engle made me become part of each of the characters in the novel. I had compassion for the nun who found love for the first time, and I absoloutely fell in lvoe with Cotty and Patrick. I began to understand these characters and their individual plights, and how their lives had truely shaped who they were. L'engle shows her readers that people are truely a product of their upbringing. On a final note, a strongly reccomend this book! It completely swept me away!

This year (specifically August/September) I got really into Madeleine L'Engle and her writing. I had read the Time Quartet several times as an early teen (or younger) and enjoyed those (specifically the first two books) and only recently thought to try anything else.

So at the end of August I tried Camilla and absolutely adored it. After that I was like a vacuum... buying and reading L'Engle books at a frenzied pace. Read most of the Murray books, read most of the Austin books, read the two Katherine Foster novels. And then I hit upon The Love Letters. I started it in the middle of September and only last night did I finish it.

The Love Letters, in tone, is standard L'Engle. Her ability with words is amazing and that is no different here. Where she lost me with this book is her use of flashback. I have said it several times in Amazon reviews that flashback is generally unnecessary and disruptive and, when used frequently, confusing.

In this case flashback is, unfortunately, necessary for the effect L'Engle wanted (the intertwining of two stories from two different eras). The way she does it is not just confusing, but kind of boring.

There are actually three different eras being jumped around in. The story starts out in "the present day" (or, more accurately, the era L'Engle write the book in) with Charlotte, who just ran away from her husband (to the "comforting" arms of his mother). She discovers a book of love letters (presumably) written by a nun and starts reading them to try and gain some insight into her own plight. The nun, Mariana, is the life of the place and is being groomed to become the next abbess. And then Noel comes into her life. If it was just those two eras, it would be easier to grasp. But there are also flashbacks into Charlotte's past.

Oh, and there are no indications in the text to indicate which era you are entering. There aren't "chapters" as much as pauses in the text (separated by curling lines)... so the switch between people and era often takes a little while to comprehend... even longer when it is the less frequent switch to Charlotte's early years. They could have simply marked the sections as "Charlotte" "Charlotte's Past" and "Mariana" and it would have been a lot less confusing and a lot easier to read.

Beyond that, I felt that the correlation between the two tales was weak at best. L'Engle tried to tie the two tales together by starting a thought with Charlotte like this...

...Then adding a curly line, switching eras, and ending the thought with Mariana (complete with ... dots) like this. Which was difficult to pick up on initially because of the beginning confusion in the first five or six "breaks" with who is where doing what and wonder why the heck it's not marked. Then once you pick up on the trick, you smile, say "how cute" then loathe it for the rest of the book. Thankfully, about 2/3rds of the way through, L'Engle seems to give up on that particular trick, only using it sparingly.

The correlation is faulty from other aspects as well. The relationships between the ladies and their men are different. There is nothing that happens in Mariana's side of the story that foreshadows what can or should happen with Charlotte. Thus, it just becomes a story... albeit one that Charlotte talks about a lot.

So we end up with two stories trying to waltz together to make things work and fit into some nice, tidy box. Instead it ends up more like a duel as the two separate tales are woven together, but never really becoming one.

In the end it is actually Mariana's story that ends up being the best written, most thought out, and has the greatest emotional grip (not to mention intellectual intrigue). While there is a change in both main characters, it is Mariana's that is the one we root for most, since there seems to be a lot more at stake. With Charlotte it is all talk and fluffy words, while listening to sage words of advice from her mother-in-law and doctor. Which is fine. It just doesn't really provide much literary spark. Whereas with Mariana we (despite some poor foreshadowing, another pet peeve of mine ranking up there with flashback) are gripped not only by her serenade, but the relationship she has with the people around her, both good and bad. She interacts with a whole collage of people. Charlotte has a very limited palette of people to relate with. Resulting in a story that seems more like muted grayscale, in contrast to Mariana's vibrant colors.

Is it worth reading? Sure. What makes the book readable is what is present with every L'Engle book. Her way with words, making mundane concepts come alive. Plus, the end of Mariana's tale is amazingly emotional, with a perfect and believable conclusion. But definitely NOT as a first, or even second L'Engle book. Rather, read Camilla, A Live Coal In The Sea, The Small Rain, and A Severed Wasp first. Even go for the Austin series. Don't be afraid to read this book, just don't judge L'Engle solely on it.

This is one of my all-time favorite books by one of my all-time favorite authors.

Based on a true story - see Letters of A Portuguese Nun by Myriam Cyr for the nonfiction account of this story.

The Love Letters was--is--more than I had expected or hoped for. I have been reading Madeleine L'Engle ever since elementary school in the form of her popular science fiction series. I am now 17, and I have gone back again and again to L'Engle and there's no stopping me from going to her again in the future. She has surprised me ever time in terms of being able to give me something unexpected and helping me see life and love in a totally different way. Letters does not fail here. Sometimes, reading these books, I find myself stopping for a moment and repeating out loud a sentence or a phrase or a paragraph that I just read that struck me down to the core. Her writing is wonderful...perfectly orchestrated each time--yet raw with feeling and love. I loved how Letters is a little more poetic than most of her other works. The form works splendidly. The only complaint that I have to lodge is that the writing is too obscure at times. Or perhaps it is me not trying hard enough. Nevertheless, I do lose her at times. And correct me if I'm wrong, but Letters is one of her earlier books, which shows. But to end on a high note, this book is still totally worth the ten hours or so you will spend reading it.

madeleine l'engle is my favorite author so i was especially pleased to find a book by her that i had not read at a local library. as always, ms. l'engle delivers a riveting and thought provoking story. the characters are engaging and the plot is pure l'engle. my only complaint was that the ending didn't explain exactly what happened to the characters, but perhaps that is more my issue than the book's. if you can find it, the love letters is definitely one to be read!