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A review by annieeditor
Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle
4.0
I took a little sidetrek in my goal of reading all of the Austin family books. "Camilla" fits in nicely with them, because it has similar themes about growing up, realizing a person's autonomy, religion, the debate over what makes a person matter, and of course lots of discussion about life and death.
One more motif I picked up from this reading is L'Engle's use of cruel adults. In "Camilla" it was the family's maid and the geography teacher who denied having ignored Camilla's pleas to go to the bathroom. In "Meet the Austins" it was the woman who told Maggie that she was silly to believe her parents had gone to another world, and then the ill-humored aunt. In "A Wrinkle in Time" it was the principal at Meg's school. For someone who worked to find the shades in human character, L'Engle seems to believe in real cruelty, too. I find that interesting.
It's a good book, and it as a good experience to compare what I understand now to what I understood when I first read it at eleven years old.
One more motif I picked up from this reading is L'Engle's use of cruel adults. In "Camilla" it was the family's maid and the geography teacher who denied having ignored Camilla's pleas to go to the bathroom. In "Meet the Austins" it was the woman who told Maggie that she was silly to believe her parents had gone to another world, and then the ill-humored aunt. In "A Wrinkle in Time" it was the principal at Meg's school. For someone who worked to find the shades in human character, L'Engle seems to believe in real cruelty, too. I find that interesting.
It's a good book, and it as a good experience to compare what I understand now to what I understood when I first read it at eleven years old.