Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage
Written by Madeleine L'Engle
Narrated by Pamela Almand
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In the final memoir of her Crosswicks Journals, the author of A Wrinkle in Time paints an intimate portrait of her forty-year marriage.
A long-term marriage has to move beyond chemistry to compatibility, to friendship, to companionship.
As Newbery Medal winner Madeleine L’Engle describes a relationship characterized by compassion, respect, and growth, as well as challenge and conflict, she beautifully evokes the life she and her husband, actor Hugh Franklin, built and the family they cherished.
Beginning with their very different childhoods, L’Engle chronicles the twists and turns that led two young artists to New York City in the 1940s, where they were both pursuing careers in theater. While working on a production of Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, they sparked a connection that would endure until Franklin’s death in 1986. L’Engle recalls years spent raising their children at Crosswicks, the Connecticut farmhouse that became an icon of family, and the support she and her husband drew from each other as artists struggling—separately and together—to find both professional and personal fulfillment.
At once heartfelt and heartbreaking, Two-Part Invention is L’Engle’s most personal work—the revelation of a marriage and the exploration of intertwined lives inevitably marked by love and loss.
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.
More audiobooks from Madeleine L'engle
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Certain Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Winter's Love: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sphinx at Dawn: Two Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Side of the Sun: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love Letters: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Miracle on 10th Street: And Other Christmas Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Penguins and Golden Calves: Icons and Idols in Antarctica and Other Unexpected Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ilsa: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Two-Part Invention
Titles in the series (4)
A Circle of Quiet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer of the Great-Grandmother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Irrational Season Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
The Summer of the Great-Grandmother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maytrees Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Down from Troy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Irrational Season Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Circle of Quiet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miracle on 10th Street: And Other Christmas Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Penguins and Golden Calves: Icons and Idols in Antarctica and Other Unexpected Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Live Coal in the Sea: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love Letters: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Small Rain: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Severed Wasp: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ilsa: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Other Side of the Sun: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sold into Egypt: Journeys into Human Being Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L'Engle, Author of A Wrinkle in Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emily Climbs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Virgin of Bennington Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light Princess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow It Went: Thirteen More Stories of the Port William Membership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memory of Old Jack Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Crazy, Holy Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hannah Coulter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Are a Tree: And Other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Divorce Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Grief Observed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cost of Discipleship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weight of Glory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Find Your People: Audio Bible Studies: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Two-Part Invention
159 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In this time when there is so much debate about the meaning of marriage, this book becomes a witness to us all. The love that L'Engle shared with her husband is an inspiration.
Another reason I loved this book so is that in her story, I see the beauty of my life partnership today. We share many of the same values of L'Engle and her husband as well as the depth of love and commitment. We are simply not "allowed" to be married even though we share this deep bond and commitment. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/53.5 stars. Perhaps the weakest of the Crosswicks books, but still very good.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I don't know if it's a similarity of mind or simply the sheer number of her words that I've read, but Madeleine L'Engle's writing feels like home.
This book is her memoir of her marriage.
"After I had declined to be my Hungarian friend's mistress, I was more than ever convinced that marriage was not going to be part of my pattern. I would write, see friends, write, go to the theatre, write, but ultimately I was going to walk alone." (p42)
"Love of music, of sunsets and sea; a liking for the same kind of people; political opinions that are not radically divergent; a similar stance as we look at the stars and think of the marvelous strangeness of this universe -- these are what build a marriage." (p77)
"Our love has been anything but perfect and anything but static. Inevitably there have been times when one of us has outrun the other and has had to wait patiently for the other to catch up. There have been times when we have misunderstood each other, demanded too much of each other, been insensitive to the other's needs. I do not believe there is any marriage where this does not happen. The growth of love is not a straight line, but a series of hills and valleys. I suspect that in every good marriage there are times when love seems to be over. Sometimes these desert lines are simply the only way to the next oasis, which is far more lush and beautiful after the desert crossing than it could possibly have been without it." (p100)
"If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure. Marriage is a terrible risk. So is having children. So is giving a performance in the theatre, or the writing of a book. Whenever something is completed successfully, then we must move on, and that is again to risk failure." (p173) - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5i liked this. i could see a writer writing this for comfort.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As a confirmed atheist, I find it odd to say that I found this book intensely spiritual; but, that is the truth. It was easy to identify with L'Engle's joy and subsequent loss - and the strength she had in letting go reminds me of the death of my grandfather, when at the end I just wanted him to have peace.A powerful book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5TWO-PART INVENTION: THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE is only the second L'Engle book I have read. Regrettably, I didn't like this one much more than I did the other Crosswicks journal. A very touchy and difficult subject, death and dying, so I hesitate to say much about L'Engle's documentation of that of her husband, Hugh Franklin, who died of complications from bladder cancer. The book itself, however, seemed formless, meandering and redundant, as L'Engle tried to tell the story of their rather unconventional forty-year marriage even as she still struggled with the enormity of her loss. A tough subject to tackle, no matter who is telling the story. I felt deep sympathy for L'Engle, but wondered if she should have published this book at all. Anne Roiphe's EPILOGUE or Joyce Carol Oates's A WIDOW'S STORY were both, I think, better-written books on the same subject.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the surface, this book covers a lot of the same ground as "The Year of Magical Thinking" -- a wife looks back on her long-lived marriage when she's faced with the death of her husband. Like TYOMT, it even contains a lot of "name-dropping," mainly from within the theater world but also within the literary one, although most of the references in both books were totally lost on me.Still, this book was infinitely more moving to me, probably because Madeleine L'Engle maintains a certain humility through it all, whereas Joan Didion's tone came across as self-important. There's a "down-to-earthness" about Madeleine that makes her story very relateable -- yes, she was married to a man who became a quite recognized actor, and yes her book became a classic of science fiction and children's literature, but she talks very little about those aspects of their lives. Instead, she dwells on the hardest times, the times that forged the marriage most of all--the times when there was no money, when their work kept them apart for weeks or months at a time, when they weren't sure where they belonged, when Madeleine suffered years of rejections on her writing and the loss of confidence that comes with it. Although at times it felt like she romanticized or aggrandized her marriage, for the most part it felt real, complete with times of admitted anger, loneliness, and alienation. Much of the book was actually written the summer Hugh was dying, since at that time Madeleine had trouble focusing on writing fiction (the same thing happens to me when I'm going through a big transition). So the book has a certain immediacy and intimacy that might have been lost otherwise, and its in these regards that the book really shines. Beyond just being a memoir of marriage, it's also a reflection on faith, and I have a deep admiration for Madeleine L'Engle's spiritual beliefs, and knowing that that which she illustrates in her fiction she also lived in her life.This wasn't a perfect book; I never felt like I got a really good grasp on what Hugh was like as a person, and I thought the opening section was more drawn out than it needed to be. Still, it's worth sticking with this one -- as long as you have plenty of tissues nearby as you draw toward the end.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story of her 40 year marriage to Hugh Franklin, Madeleine L'Engle describes her feelings and actions when it is discovered that her beloved has cancer. She remembers her early life and how she met him. This is a very honest portrayal of grief, loss, pain, love and faith.I don't know if I agree with all of her conclusions about God, but I think her pondering on the will of God, the purpose of God and the consequences of our actions are spot on. I thank God she was able to write this story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madeleine L'Engle has been one of my favorite authors since I read A Wrinkle in Time when I was about nine or ten. This memoir of her marriage is poignant, moving, and profound. L'Engle's story time-travels between past and present: she remembers the challenges of weaving two artistic careers into the fabric of family life--or maybe vice-versa; and she tenderly and painfully relates the last chapter of her marriage during her husband's illness. L'Engle's spiritual insights and reflections on love and life add value beyond the telling of the story of a remarkable marriage.