L'Engle begins this sustaining memoir with scences from her own unorthodox childhood, then contrasts them with the standard heartland variety husband Hugh Franklin enjoyed, but what occupies center stage here are his intense, progressive bout with bladder cancer and their flinty responses and pained accommodatings until his death last year. Madeleine met and married actor Hugh Franklin in her 20s, just after A Small Rain appeared in 1945. They bought Crosswicks, the Connecticut property central to A Circle of Quiet, raised a family, and pursued their separate careers—after years on the stage, he worked as Dr. Charles Tyler on TV's All My Children. L'Engle's recollections of those years offer a welcome balance to the grim home and hospital sequences that come to dominate her thoughts as Hugh's condition worsens. A large circle of friends and family participate in the sickbed rituals and share the L'Engles' serial decisions until, as one procedure after another fails to restore his health, Hugh insists that "This is really one thing too many." Ultimately, they face the always onerous task of preparing to say good-bye. Franklin's doctor laments, "One domino fell over another." Those who treasure Lael Wertenbaker's classic Death of a Man or, more recently, Gerda Lerner's A Death of One's Own will find that L'Engle travels through some of the same interior landscapes; her familiar spiritual leanings—at one point, she considers exorcism—may appeal to others: and her memories of her and Hugh's early years together with friends like Jean and Walter Kerr add to the outreach.
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1988
ISBN: 0062505017
Page Count: 242
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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