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dlberglund 's review for:
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith
by Deborah Heiligman
I listened to the audiobook, read by Rosalyn Landor. The reader was excellent, and her reading of it kept me listening. 5 stars to Ms. Landor.
I began this book before I realized it was Printz and National Book Award honor. Once I learned that, I think it raised my expectations too much for the little book to handle.
I appreciated that the book does tell about Darwin's development as a person through the lens of his marriage. His "To Marry/Not to Marry" chart presented early in the book gives great insight into his pragmatic view of life and the deliberateness with which he undertook every task. He certainly never would have predicted the gushing love he would feel for his wife in later life, expressed in letter after letter.
I didn't quite feel that the book communicated how the Darwins resolved their initial conflict of science vs. religion. It was brought up frequently enough--the reader is very often reminded that Emma was bereft at the thought that she wouldn't spend eternity with Charles in heaven--but I don't know that there is enough data from either person to show how they truly maneuvered it at home. Even toward the close of Charles's life, there wasn't enough meat to the conversation, only reminders that it was always a point of stress.
The book brought up many tangential questions for me. What would some of their children been diagnosed with is they lived today? Interesting to note that of Emma and Charles's 10 children born, only 3 eventually reproduced. Charles included his observations of his children in several of his writings; I wonder what he would make of their low rates of reproduction. Is that a factor of their economic privilege, that they didn't need to have as many children? At what point did it become inadvisable for cousins to marry and have children?
I am not trying to make light of the struggles and sorrows of the Darwin clan. Something was lost in the telling of their story, however, that kept me from identifying with them on an emotional level, and kept me to the cerebral. This is really why the book received 3 stars rather than 4.
I began this book before I realized it was Printz and National Book Award honor. Once I learned that, I think it raised my expectations too much for the little book to handle.
I appreciated that the book does tell about Darwin's development as a person through the lens of his marriage. His "To Marry/Not to Marry" chart presented early in the book gives great insight into his pragmatic view of life and the deliberateness with which he undertook every task. He certainly never would have predicted the gushing love he would feel for his wife in later life, expressed in letter after letter.
I didn't quite feel that the book communicated how the Darwins resolved their initial conflict of science vs. religion. It was brought up frequently enough--the reader is very often reminded that Emma was bereft at the thought that she wouldn't spend eternity with Charles in heaven--but I don't know that there is enough data from either person to show how they truly maneuvered it at home. Even toward the close of Charles's life, there wasn't enough meat to the conversation, only reminders that it was always a point of stress.
The book brought up many tangential questions for me. What would some of their children been diagnosed with is they lived today? Interesting to note that of Emma and Charles's 10 children born, only 3 eventually reproduced. Charles included his observations of his children in several of his writings; I wonder what he would make of their low rates of reproduction. Is that a factor of their economic privilege, that they didn't need to have as many children? At what point did it become inadvisable for cousins to marry and have children?
I am not trying to make light of the struggles and sorrows of the Darwin clan. Something was lost in the telling of their story, however, that kept me from identifying with them on an emotional level, and kept me to the cerebral. This is really why the book received 3 stars rather than 4.