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A review by erikars
Ilsa by Madeleine L'Engle
4.0
(For those not familiar with this novel, this was extremely hard to get access to for years, but there's now a Kindle version.)
This was L'Engle's second novel and the only one that was never republished. It seems L'Engle wasn't particularly fond of it. It definitely has signs of being an early novel, but it was still a good read. Although it's not as positive or, to use a word I don't think L'Engle would not object to, redemptive as many of her later novels, it does explore many of the same themes of the ways humans are unintentionally cruel to each other and the stresses of the modern world on traditional world views. Even if it's not L'Engle at her best, it's still clearly in the same space.
This novel was ultimately a little dissatisfying. Not because of how the plot went in broad strokes. Not much happened, but this novel was a character study of Ilsa through the eyes of a flawed and biased narrator, Henry. Rather, it's because, I think, L'Engle didn't know then what really happened to the characters after the novel. This is independent of the decision to keep things ambiguous for the reader.
(I have no evidence this was the case. It's just the sense I get.)
Whether or not that's true, L'Engle eventually shows us a little about what happens to Henry and Ilsa. You can search for yourself. The Joys of Love and A House Like a Lotus provide the clues of how they fit into her larger timeline.
This was L'Engle's second novel and the only one that was never republished. It seems L'Engle wasn't particularly fond of it. It definitely has signs of being an early novel, but it was still a good read. Although it's not as positive or, to use a word I don't think L'Engle would not object to, redemptive as many of her later novels, it does explore many of the same themes of the ways humans are unintentionally cruel to each other and the stresses of the modern world on traditional world views. Even if it's not L'Engle at her best, it's still clearly in the same space.
This novel was ultimately a little dissatisfying. Not because of how the plot went in broad strokes. Not much happened, but this novel was a character study of Ilsa through the eyes of a flawed and biased narrator, Henry. Rather, it's because, I think, L'Engle didn't know then what really happened to the characters after the novel. This is independent of the decision to keep things ambiguous for the reader.
(I have no evidence this was the case. It's just the sense I get.)
Whether or not that's true, L'Engle eventually shows us a little about what happens to Henry and Ilsa. You can search for yourself. The Joys of Love and A House Like a Lotus provide the clues of how they fit into her larger timeline.