A Severed Wasp by L'Engle
A Seminal Novel by Author Madeleine L’Engle
Bookends for One L’Engle Character
In 1945, Madeleine L’Engle published her second book, The Small Rain. The novel followed the life of the young Katherine Forrester, a gifted pianist and emotionally intense person as she negotiated the peaks and valleys of a difficult childhood. Over the years, Katherine makes appearances in various L’Engle books as a minor character and as a famous pianist. In 1982, 37 years and 32 books later, L’Engle tells us the rest of Katherine’s story in the novel, A Severed Wasp.
Beginnings and Endings
We enter the novel when the now retired Katherine Vinegras meets with a friend from the distant past whom she hasn’t seen for many years. Her friend, whose lifestyle was of ill-repute when she knew him, had become the Bishop of New York during the intervening years and continues to work at St John the Divine where they now meet.
The meeting of Katherine and Felix propels Katherine into a busy new life that she had not expected when she retired. She makes new friends and enemies. As she settles into retirement and works at sorting out painful experiences and at making peace with her past; she finds herself involved in frightening and mysterious occurrences that all seem center on the Cathedral Close.
A Strong Character
Katherine is one of the most profound characters that Madeleine L’Engle ever created. The painful struggle of Katherine’s childhood years, in The Small Rain, and her blossoming into adulthood as she met various men who stirred her soul is something that all sensitive teenagers can relate to. The intense yearning of Katherine creates a powerful bond between the reader and the character.
However, Katherine’s character doesn’t remain the young person that we are introduced to in The Small Rain. In A Severed Wasp, adults who once identified with the young Katherine, now discover a mature and wise woman whose lessons are ones that adults, especially older adults, will understand and can learn from.
Hard To Let Go
Like many books written by L’Engle. A Severed Wasp is a gripping read that is hard to put down. The reader becomes deeply involved in the plot and wants to know what happens. At the same time, the emotional current in the book captivates the reader and pulls them along.
A Severed Wasp is a book that is particularly suitable for middle-aged or older women, women who find that they are in the place where they need to begin to come to terms with their lives.
L’Engle, Madeleine. A Severed Wasp. The Noonday Press, 1982. ISBN 0-374-51783-5
Read more about Madeleine L'Engle at Suite101.
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