A review by erin_jones
Certain Women by Madeleine L'Engle

4.0

I could never be a critic. Who am I, I wonder, to fit a book into a rating system of stars, 1-5? Some books, sure. Even plenty of books are able to fit in that system. But sometimes you come across a piece of art that's not five stars or one--stars are just irrelevant.

I gave this four stars because it doesn't completely work as a novel. Instead, it's a fable, and also kind of a play. It's theatrical in a way that isn't totally novel-like. For that reason, I wasn't sure about it at first. Timelines switch rapidly, the sections are divided in ways that weren't very clear, and, without being very familiar with the bible or the story of King David, a lot of the references were lost on me, and didn't come together until later.

But it did knit together, and in the end, it's a book that I'll be thinking about for days. It's given me ways to think about my own art--do I want to be someone who encourages people to choose the wedding?

Thanks, L'Engle. You always got people to choose the wedding.