Product Description

A deftly woven drama that brings together elements of the theater, biblical narrative and the goings-on in unconventional families.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186110 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-22
• Released on: 1993-10-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"Marrying was a habit with me, a bad habit," David Wheaton declares from his deathbed in this disappointing novel by the Newbery Award-winning CK author of A Wrinkle in Time . As the 87-year-old actor's boat plies the waters of the Pacific Northwest, Wheaton looks back on his life with eight wives and 11 children. Also on board is his devoted daughter Emma, stunned by the imminence of her father's death and by the recent dissolution of her marriage to a playwright whose drama about King David and his wives provides the framework for L'Engle's relentless analogies between the Old Testament monarch and the modern-day actor. Recasting the biblical tale as a meditation on love and marriage, L'Engle piles on literary references: David met Emma's mother while making a film version of The Mill on the Floss , named their daughter after the heroine of Madame Bovary and calls his boat the Portia . But name-dropping does not a work of literature make. The epigraph from St. Luke--"Certain women made us astonished"--is not borne out by these two-dimensional characters, who don't astonish in the least as they speak and act by formula. The heavy-handed biblical subtext overwhelms rather than enhances the contemporary drama. ( Oct.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In Certain Women , terminally ill David Wheaton, a prominent and much-married American actor, obsessively recalls an unfinished play about King David, a role he coveted. L'Engle explores Christian faith, love, and the nature of God by framing the delayed-maturation story of Emma, Wheaton's daughter, within three subplots: the Wheaton family saga, the story of King David, and the history of the play's development. The characterizations of both Davids are compelling, but the primary interest here is the community of women that surrounds each man. L'Engle describes complex truths very simply, pointing out, for instance, that "Life hurts" and that if there's "no agony, there's no joy." Because she also details the emotional cost of discovering and accepting such concepts, many readers will find these observations memorable rather than simplistic. Appropriate for all but the smallest general collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/92.
- Jane S. Bakerman, Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
In her latest foray into adult fiction (after A Severed Wasp, 1983, etc.), veteran author L'Engle recounts--with characteristic lucidity and wisdom--the tale of a dying actor paying tribute to the eight wives and eleven children he has loved. They not only share a name, they share a personal history: King David of the Bible and David Wheaton, well-known actor of stage and screen--each enjoyed many wives, saw their sons killed and their women martyred, but nevertheless managed to live long, deep, and fruitful lives. It makes sense, then, that when Wheaton's daughter, Emma, marries a rising young playwright committed to re- creating King David's life for the stage, Wheaton becomes obsessed with playing the leading role. Life hasn't worked out so neatly for the Wheatons, though: Niklaas Green, the playwright, has proved unable to complete the play; his marriage to Emma, herself now a successful stage actress, is disintegrating; and David has succumbed to cancer in his old age and wants only to bid those closest to him farewell. As the great actor rests aboard his comfortable boat, the Portia, tended by his most recent wife, Emma cooks meals, entertains her father, and reads through yellowed drafts of Nik's ``David'' play. Scenes of King David's life give rise to recollections of the Wheaton clan's own triumphs and tragedies: the loss of children in infancy, two sons' deaths during WW II, an assault on Emma by her older half-brother. As surviving ex-wives and grown children arrive for a final goodbye, they join David and Emma in meditating on the meaning of all their lives--and grope, even as the curtain lowers, toward what counts most. King David's life may prove less fascinating to the reader than it is to these characters. Nevertheless, the gentle, rhythmic quality of L'Engle's prose is perfectly attuned to this fictional aquatic cruise. A memorable work. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A rich read
L'Engle's story will draw you into warm, rich but complicated family relationships, as Emma, the main character tells the stories in a lyrical way. Emma tells of her father, a well-known actor, David Wheaton, whose life is oftentimes compared to the other famous David ~~ King David of the Biblical times. David Wheaton has as many if not less wives and 11 children. Emma narrates the stories as the one child who has always remained close to her father. It is also a wonderful and encompassing story about love and forgiveness as David nears the end of his life.

Emma's husband struggles with writing a play for David Wheaton ~~ he would have played the great Hebrew king ~~ and interspersed throughout the narration are the stories of David's wives. Despite what some critics have said about this book, it is a rich read. I don't mind reading about Biblical times ~~ in fact, I love it. I find it fascinating. And L'Engle does a wonderful job giving King David's wives a voice throughout the ages and in a way the reader can understand. And reading about David Wheaton's wives, Emma's grandparents who have provided her with a heritage of rich spiritual lives, and the acceptance of life and death at the end.

It is a book I highly recommend for daughters who enjoy a close relationship with their fathers ~~ as it does explore a man's regrets that he didn't live a better life for his children or make the time for them ~~ but Emma forgives him anyways because that is who he is.

If you have a few days to spare, pick this book up. Go off into a quiet place and read it. You will fall in love with the lyrical writing style if not with the characters. It is definitely one of my top 100 favorite books to read. It's well worth the time reading.

Another very healing book by Madeline L'Engle
_Certain Women_ and _A Severed Wasp_ are two of Ms. L'Engle's adult fiction books that capture the lives of born-artistic, talented souls... whether they are musicians, actors, writers, artists, etc. It helps me to understand that, even though I have some musical talent (more, perhaps than many), I do not have a musician's soul, because I do not have that hunger to create... to pursue this gift to its utmost. Ms. L'Engle's writing is wonderfully clear and descriptive... even the most horrific scenes were deftly, simply written, capturing the moment without yielding to the sordid. Also amazing is the retelling of the King David story, but from the women's point of view; I learned more about King David in this book than I *ever* learned in Sunday School!

Great Introduction to L'Engle's "grown-up" Novels
This book is as interesting as MLE's "Wrinkle in Time" series, only for adults. The book's unvarnished story of the life of David Wheaton, dying actor, told through the eyes of Emma, his actress daughter, kept me absorbed from beginning to end. It was for me, a great introduction to the larger body of the author's work. If read from the perspective of MLE as a writer of Christian non-fiction, it is an even better work of fiction. She acknowleges the world as it is, but treats her characters, with all of their flaws, gently.