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    Camilla: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Camilla: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Camilla: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Camilla: A Novel

    Written by Madeleine L'Engle

    Narrated by Ann Marie Lee

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Life had always been easy for fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson.  But now her parents, whom she had always loved and trusted, are behaving like strangers to each other and vying for her allegiance.  Camilla is torn between her love for them and her disapproval of their actions.

    Then she meets Frank, her best friend's brother, who helps her to feel that she is not alone.  Can Camilla learn to accept her parents for what they are and step toward her own independence?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 10, 2009
    ISBN9780739380925
    Unavailable
    Camilla: A Novel
    Author

    Madeleine L'Engle

    Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) was the Newbery Medal-winning author of more than 60 books, including the much-loved A Wrinkle in Time. Born in 1918, L'Engle grew up in New York City, Switzerland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Her father was a reporter and her mother had studied to be a pianist, and their house was always full of musicians and theater people. L'Engle graduated cum laude from Smith College, then returned to New York to work in the theater. While touring with a play, she wrote her first book, The Small Rain, originally published in 1945. She met her future husband, Hugh Franklin, when they both appeared in The Cherry Orchard. Upon becoming Mrs. Franklin, L'Engle gave up the stage in favor of the typewriter. In the years her three children were growing up, she wrote four more novels. Hugh Franklin temporarily retired from the theater, and the family moved to western Connecticut and for ten years ran a general store. Her book Meet the Austins, an American Library Association Notable Children's Book of 1960, was based on this experience. Her science fantasy classic A Wrinkle in Time was awarded the 1963 Newbery Medal. Two companion novels, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (a Newbery Honor book), complete what has come to be known as The Time Trilogy, a series that continues to grow in popularity with a new generation of readers. Her 1980 book A Ring of Endless Light won the Newbery Honor. L'Engle passed away in 2007 in Litchfield, Connecticut.

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    Reviews for Camilla

    3.5/5

    140 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I read this book for the first time when I was about 13 years old. I loved it then. I discovered it again recently, and the story is just as compelling to me now, and I am over 60.
      Camilla's relationships are complicated and the author draws us a picture of what life is like for her, dealing with people who are not happy.
      I am very glad that I found this book again.
    • 4/5
      Just to be clear, I love Madeleine L'Engle's storytelling, ever since she swept me off my feet with A Wrinkle in Time. I think this YA novel deals with the questions of growing up and discovering the humanity of oneself and one's parents and one's peers is very well done. It was written in either 1951 or 1955 (Wikipedia vs. author website), and considering it is nearly 70 years old it has aged very well. Some attitudes are slightly dated, but the questions and emotions of young people on the cusp of adulthood are still relevant. I like the fact that the ending isn't all wrapped up in a bow, because that's not how life generally is. The character of Frank is abrasive, as is his sister, and Camilla sometimes lacked agency, but honestly that's how people are. A mass of contradictions and good and bad points. Overall I enjoyed re-reading this, which is more than I can say for The Catcher in the Rye.
    • 4/5
      I read this book many years ago, but recently decided to read it again. It has a lot of great descriptions and realistic characters and it covers some deep subjects, but sometimes it seemed a bit overdramatic.
    • 4/5
      I read this book many years ago, but recently decided to read it again. It has a lot of great descriptions and realistic characters and it covers some deep subjects, but sometimes it seemed a bit overdramatic.
    • 4/5
      This is told in the first person from the point of view of a fifteen-year-old teenage girl who lives in New York. Camilla has been quite sheltered from adult problems, but we meet her when she starts to realise that her parents may be fallible, and that she is no longer a little girl...Essentially it’s a coming-of-age story, about teenage worries, and first love. It feels quite modern in the way it discusses relationships and marriage problems, despite being written in 1965. There is a moving subplot about a young man with a serious disability after being in the war, and many references to astronomy and the idea of God. These are not preachy in any way, but from the point of view of two teenagers trying to decide what they believe, and why, with some unusual theories. The descriptive and narrative writing is good, and I thought the insights into a teenage mind felt realistic. However I found the dialogue a bit stilted, and the story sometimes a little slow-moving. I found the ending inconclusive, and a little depressing. Still, it was a pleasant read that could be of interest to younger teens as well as nostalgic adults.
    • 5/5
      Who would believe I would like and read a teenage love story from the girl's POV? Yet here it is, and I believe the reason I enjoyed it so much is the artistic crafting of Ms. L-Engle. The whole story set in New York City didn't hurt, either, as I knew most of the place names the players lattended. If I were a teenage girl, I'd probably give it the full five stars. Hee. Seriously, it just missed becasue of a slight drag effect that carried through the whole story.
    • 1/5
      One review on the cover compares this book to "Catcher in the Rye". That holds up only if you consider that both books are about privileged, inexperienced, horny teenagers who are full of their own specialness. You, as a reader, are subjected to the realistically meandering philosophicalisms of a young girl. Maybe if I had read it as a teenager . . . The book does have one strength: none of the supporting characters are as one-dimensional as the protagonist. None of them are particularly likeable, but at least they aren't cliches.
    • 4/5
      I love Madeleine L'Engle. Let me start by putting that out there. I'm sure there are people who don't like her style of writing, or the overt spiritual questions (and occasionally pat answers) in her novels. But I've always dived into her books the way I might into a good conversation with a kindred spirit. So yes, I enjoyed Camilla, my latest foray into her writing. That said, it wasn't anywhere near my favorite L'Engle book.Camilla is much more 'real' than much of L'Engle's Young Adult fiction, which is somewhere in the science fiction/fantasy/metaphysical realm (think A Wrinkle in Time or A Swiftly Tilting Planet.) But, although Camilla's genre was more like L'Engle's works for adults, this book lacked the depth and the rich language that make me cherish books like The Crosswicks Journal. It was sweet and familiar: the bitter disappointment of first realizing people you want to look up to aren't perfect, the frustration of realizing you can't make the world alright, the giddy happiness of a first crush. But unless you happen to be a 15- or 16-year old girl yourself, you know – as Camilla doesn't – that she's still got so much to learn. Although I could recognize and empathize with Camilla's coming of age, I found myself wondering if a meeting with Camilla 10 years later might not be more intellectually satisfying.Camilla's questions about the existence of God are what I'd expect from a 15-year old in her position, but they're ultimately neither satisfying nor very insightful. The recurring theme that being truly alive is the most important thing one can do – that to stop caring is a form of spiritual death – is phrased as a sort of adolescent rebellion. Where is the subtlety and grace with which L'Engle typically explores these subjects? Ultimately, I have to suggest passing on this book, and reading (or re-reading) one of her other works. Luckily, she was prolific enough that that's not hard to do.