Writing the Book that Wants to Be Written

Madeleine L’Engle

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children. ~Madeleine L’Engle

Have you read books by Madeleine L’Engle? Her most famous novel is A Wrinkle in Time. Walt Disney released a movie based on her story not long ago. I haven’t seen the movie. The book was published in 1962, but somehow I missed out on reading it through all these years. My granddaughter read it and loved it and her talking about the story made me decide I should someday read it.

Actually, I still haven’t exactly read it. I have been listening to audio books while doing chores to let me enjoy more books. I’m also hoping to narrate some of my own stories that aren’t on audio yet. So it seems wise to listen to some other narrators to get the feel of how to read a book someone might want to listen to. Not that I’ll ever be the pro some of those narrators are. I have to admire the narrators who have read some of my books. I have been listening off and on to River to Redemption narrated by Kate Forbes. I am totally impressed with her reading of my story and very pleased with how she has interpreted the characters and their voices. I also loved the narration of These Healing Hills and Angel Sister. I haven’t dipped into the audible copy of An Appalachian Summer but hope it too is well done.

But back to Wrinkle in Time. I’ve been getting some audio books to listen to from the library and when I was looking for a title the other day, I saw Wrinkle in Time was available without a wait. So I thought why not find out why so many have loved this story. And I did really enjoy the story and the narrator, Hope Davis, was wonderful.  She is surely an actress for she gives quite a performance in her reading of the story. I did discover why the story has been so popular and has endured through the fifty plus years since it was published.

What I may have liked best, however, was Ms. L’Engle’s granddaughter’s afterword. She tells about her grandmother’s childhood and then about her writing life, and especially about her writing this particular story. I had read some about Madeleine L’Engle and her writing before. I knew she had times in her writing life when she wondered if she was spending her time in the best way writing stories that weren’t finding much success. Many other writers, including me, can identify with that. I’ve had plenty of times in my writing career when I kept writing but had a difficult time holding onto the hope that anyone besides me would ever read the words I was writing.

L’Engle didn’t have immediate success. In fact, A Wrinkle in Time, made its way around the publishing circles, according to her granddaughter, with most rejecting the story as too adult for children, too this and too that. While she had published other stories by then, this new story was nothing like her others and was too much of a fantasy, too close to science fiction, too unbelievable perhaps for many of the editors who read it and rejected it. Some of the editors asked her to change the story. This probably took place over a period of time since in those days everything was done by mail and agents didn’t send out multiple submissions but generally sent out manuscripts to one publishing house at a time. So the rejections were no doubt difficult for Ms. L’Engle. Even her agent and husband thought perhaps she should change the story to make it more “publishable.” But Ms. L’Engle said she felt a responsibility to the story and the characters who had come into her imagination to share their story. She didn’t want to strip the story of what she thought made it right.

Eventually, the manuscript was sent to an editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He saw something in the story that the other editors had missed and took a chance on publishing it in spite of receiving critical feedback from some. And of course, you know the rest of the story. When the book was released, it was an immediate success, won the Newbery Award and many other literary awards. And yet at the same time, the book has been one of the most banned or challenged books.

Here’s a bit of an article explaining the controversy from History.com. You can read the entire post here.

Since its publication in 1962, A Wrinkle in Time has become one of the most frequently banned or challenged books, for multiple reasons. People have argued that it’s too complicated for children, and earlier critics disapproved of its plucky female protagonist. Among conservative Christians, one of the biggest objections has historically been the way that the book’s author, Madeleine L’Engle, mixes science and religion.

But the story is still popular with readers today. I enjoyed listened to it. For me it was seemed a classic tale of good versus evil.  I liked its underlying messages of courage and love. I couldn’t think what could be wrong with that. I had to admire Ms. L’Engle’s belief in her story that certainly proved true. Her granddaughter said her grandmother felt a great responsibility to her readers and answered her fan mail herself even though she received hundreds of letters each month. I too appreciate every contact I receive from readers but I’ve never had that kind of volume. I know that must have taken her many hours.

We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts. ~Madeleine L’Engle

I think she used hers well.

Have you ever read any stories by Madeleine L’Engle? Do you like knowing the story behind a story getting published? If so, perhaps I can share some of my ups and downs in publishing. 

As always, thanks for reading.