A House Like a Lotus

Rating:
Summary: Only L'Engle...
Review: This was a change from the Time Quartet and the Austin series. It deals with more adult issues than them, and frankly, more than I think were required. Some of it even seemed forced, like the author was trying to put her values into one volume. This makes the book hard to digest at times, and sometimes to heavy. You need to devote time into reading this book if you want to enjoy it. On the contrary, this book gives you a necessary "think" that is good for everyone. The plot is interesting if not realistic. If you read it, you'll know what I mean. Even the Time books seemed more believable, what with all the tessering and such. This is a better book than I made it sound in this review, I think, but decide for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: definitely a page-turner.
Review: with the l'engle books, i had rarely ventured from the wrinkle in time series, but when i finally read the inside cover and found that this book's main character was the daughter of the characters in the other books, i read it in about three days. l'engle's coming-of-age books are absolutely amazing, and this one is no exception. i found myself never wanting to put it down, which is pretty rare for me these days, and highly diappointed when it came to an end. this is a great read for just about anyone, but female readers will most likely be able to relate more.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent example of L'Engle at her finest!
Review: Without needing to traipse all over the galaxy as is her habit, Madeleine L'Engle weaves a story of fears, loss of innocence, and coming-of-age against the romantic backdrop of South Carolina and Europe in the poignant and occasionally painful House Like a Lotus. Her heroine, Polly O'Keefe, struggles to retain her "old-fashioned" values and ideals in the face of lessons taught in an increasingly violent and less tolerant world. With poetic language and her trademark diversity of character, L'Engle's world moves like a river of color and sound, wrapping the reader in a richness of language seldom found in modern young-adult novels. The story, told half in the present and half in flashback, unfolds parallelly, joining finally at the end with a tender yet powerful reinforcement of the theme.