Certain Women: A Novel

Written by Madeleine l'Engle

Narrated by Teri Clark Linden

An award-winning author explores the meaning of family in a novel that draws parallels between the lives of a modern man and an ancient biblical king.

As he struggles with cancer, legendary screen actor David Wheaton contemplates the one role that always eluded him: King David. Comparing his own life to that of the biblical ruler, David recalls his own numerous wives and children, forcing his daughter Emma to confront the memories of her family’s unconventional past.

As David’s loved ones gather to say goodbye to their patriarch, Certain Women masterfully links past and present in an emotional story rich in dramatic tradition, showcasing the struggles—both ordinary and extraordinary—of family life.

From the renowned author of A Wrinkle in Time, Certain Women is a wise and “memorable work” (Kirkus Reviews).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543629804

Madeleine l'Engle

Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) was an American author of more than sixty books, including novels for children and adults, poetry, and religious meditations. Her best-known work, A Wrinkle in Time, one of the most beloved young adult books of the twentieth century and a Newbery Medal winner, has sold more than fourteen million copies since its publication in 1962. Her other novels include A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Ring of Endless Light. Born in New York City, L’Engle graduated from Smith College and worked in theater, where she met her husband, actor Hugh Franklin. L’Engle documented her marriage and family life in the four-book autobiographical series, the Crosswicks Journals. She also served as librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan for more than thirty years.  

Reviews for Certain Women

[Janae Carlee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful and thought provoking— I’m sad it ended so soon.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On David Wheaton's deathbed his present and former wives and offspring have gathered with him on his beloved boat. A major regret is not performing as the Biblical King David in a play never quite finished by his son-in-law playwright. Daughter Emma is forced to confront the pains and good times of her father's serial marriages.

[nadinec.keels · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I appreciate the rhythm of L'Engle's prose and development (which I first got a real sense of when I read A Severed Wasp.) She has an unceremonious, almost offhand, way of telling the reader pivotal information, like, "Yes, reader, you read correctly. That happened. Now we're going to deal with it--but not too quickly." It's a deft cadence of storytelling.

I found Certain Women to be heavy reading, also like A Severed Wasp, only this novel felt long to me at points, like during some of the characters' conversations about King David and his family, much of which I didn't particularly enjoy. I've read and heard about these accounts several times before, and I realize the novel wouldn't make sense if the reader didn't know those details of King David's life, but I'm bent toward thinking that actually taking the reader back to those times through the narrator might have been more interesting than having the present characters sit and relay the facts to each other at different times.

"Then King David did this, then he said that. Then what happened?"

"He did something else. Right?"

"Oh, yes, he did that. Then Abigail said this to him."

If I wasn't a read-every-word kind of reader, I might have skipped or skimmed over the fact-giving chats to get back to the story.

Yet, I somehow get the sense that there is something in the essence of this novel that I likely missed, that if I were to reread it ten or twenty years from now, I would catch something in it that I wasn't quite able to put my finger on, this time around. It's an intriguing notion.

[odkins · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This story is about a dying thespian whose domestic life mirrors that of David in the Bible. The premise never really works. Told from the point of view of one of his daughters, there are simply too many wives and broods to keep up with. Although the characters are sketchily drawn, you feel as though you've met them all before in L'Engle's other books. In fact, one of her characters from other books, Canon Tallis, does make a brief appearance. The dialogue is stilted ansd full of theological allusions that make the characters uninteresting and unrealistic.

[florinda_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read a lot of Madeleine L'Engle's fiction, and generally prefer the novels that are targeted to a young-adult audience. Having said that, I believe Certain Women may be her strongest work of "adult" fiction. I first read it in the mid-'90s and found it memorable; now, re-reading it for a Faith and Fiction Roundtable discussion, I'll declare it my favorite of her adult novels as well. There's an abundance of thematic meat to this novel, but L'Engle does not sacrifice creation of distinctive characters or a compelling storyline in order to mine it; rather, she employs them well in exploring it.

At the age of eighty-seven and facing his imminent death from cancer, renowned stage actor David Wheaton can't let go of the one role he never had the opportunity to play: his Biblical namesake, King David, in a play to be written by his son-in-law Nik Green and co-starring his actress daughter, Nik's wife Emma Wheaton. The much-married actor has often dwelled on the similarities between his life and the king's, and as he gradually brings his remaining family members together to say their goodbyes, his reflections stir memories and conversation about their past, present - and particularly for Emma, their future.

This novel was originally published in 1992 and takes place in the mid-twentieth century, but the Wheaton family is a strikingly modern one - a highly blended one, in particular. Perhaps it's because different social and moral rules have long seemed to govern the acting world in which the family lives, but there's little flinching from David's many marriages, or over the children that several of those marriages produced. The children know each other as siblings and spend a fair amount of time together - although, as in any family, some are closer than others - and a few of the wives and ex-wives have even managed to become friends, as they are involved in raising one another's children. A few have remained close to their former husband, as well. Due to the early departure of her mother from the scene, daughter Emma grew up closest to her father, and is the first of David's children to join him and his last wife, doctor Alice, on the houseboat where he is spending the last days of his life.

Those days are spent in reading and reminiscing, frequently returning to the topic of Nik's aborted King David play and flashing back to how it developed. There's a lot of quoting from the Old Testament and discussion of the motivations of Biblical characters in these scenes, accompanied with efforts to draw parallels between the two Davids' stories. In other hands, this could bring the story to one expositional stop after another, but L'Engle makes it work in character for her characters, and it adds depth. On this reading, I was more impressed than I recall being previously by L'Engle's skill at making conversations between her characters on topics of theology and morality sound natural, and not preachy or sermon-like. One way that she makes it work is by giving her characters different worldviews...and while some of her women (and men) may be "certain," they're not inflexible. And in trying to make Old Testament stories meaningful in the context of New Testament beliefs, I think it helps not to be too overly certain in one's thinking.

Madeleine L'Engle has written a number of nonfiction works concerning religion and spirituality, and spent much of her life active in the Episcopal Church, often at New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She also acted on stage prior to becoming a writer, and was married to a stage and television actor. Certain Women draws on her familiarity with these two seemingly opposed worlds, exploring themes of family, forgiveness, and the meaning of marriage in a Biblically-inspired but thoroughly contemporary story. I'm glad I had this chance re-read it, and pleased that I'm able to appreciate it better this time around.

[missmelysse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and compelling family drama. Love the devices of both the biblical story and the play within the book. This is a novel I've gone back to re-read more than once.

[libby8gorman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful! Adult family drama, shows a family that can share great love despite massive hurts to each other.