Madeleine L'Engle
AUTHOR

Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine was born on November 29th, 1918, and spent her formative years in New York City. Instead of her school work, she found that she would much rather be writing stories, poems and journals for herself, which was reflected in her grades (not the best). However, she was not discouraged.

At age 12, she moved to the French Alps with her parents and went to an English boarding school where, thankfully, her passion for writing continued to grow. She flourished during her high school years back in the United States at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, vacationing with her mother in a rambling old beach cottage on a beautiful stretch of Florida Beach.

She went to Smith College and studied English with some wonderful teachers as she read the classics and continued her own creative writing. She graduated with honors and moved into a Greenwich Village apartment in New York. She worked in the theater, where Equity union pay and a flexible schedule afforded her the time to write! She published her first two novels during these years--A Small Rain and Ilsa--before meeting Hugh Franklin, her future husband, when she was an understudy in Anton Chekov's The Cherry Orchard. They married during The Joyous Season.

She had a baby girl and kept on writing, eventually moving to Connecticut to raise the family away from the city in a small dairy farm village with more cows than people. They bought a dead general store, and brought it to life for 9 years. They moved back to the city with three children, and Hugh revitalized his professional acting career.

As the years passed and the children grew, Madeleine continued to write and Hugh to act, and they to enjoy each other and life. Madeleine began her association with the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, where she was the librarian and maintained an office for more than thirty years. After Hugh's death in 1986, it was her writing and lecturing that kept her going. She lived through the 20th century and into the 21st and wrote over 60 books. She enjoyed being with her friends, her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren.

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Best Sellers

    • A Wrinkle in Time

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Hope Davis, Ava DuVernay, Madeleine L'Engle, and others
    • Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 11,727
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 10,454
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 10,461

    Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Winderful, captivating, story

    • By Marsha L. Woerner on 07-14-16

    Regular price: $17.50

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • A Wind in the Door

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle
    • Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 1,039
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 914
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 926

    Meg Murry can't help but be worried when her six-year-old brother, Charles Wallace, announces there are dragons in the vegetable garden....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • by Julian, 8 years old

    • By film karma on 04-09-12

    Regular price: $25.20

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • A Swiftly Tilting Planet

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle
    • Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 583
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 523
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 524

    Fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Re-experience the magic

    • By Denise Swift on 03-20-12

    Regular price: $25.20

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Many Waters

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
    • Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 331
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 293
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 294

    A touch of computer keys, a blast of heat, and suddenly the Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are gasping in a shimmering desert land....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Love! Mildly suggestive material.

    • By tracie on 06-24-13

    Regular price: $25.90

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • An Acceptable Time

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
    • Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 222
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 190
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 191

    A flash of lightning, quivering ground, and, instead of her grandparents' farm, Polly sees mist and jagged mountains -- and coming toward her, a group of young men carrying spears....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Not Jest for kids. Very deep for knowing adults.

    • By Mary on 06-21-16

    Regular price: $31.93

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Dragons in the Waters

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Michael Crouch
    • Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 30
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 30
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 30

    Thirteen-year-old Simon Renier has no idea when he boards the MS Orion with his cousin, Forsyth Phair, that their journey to Venezuela will be a dangerous one....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Great book

    • By Poppa on 11-09-16

    Regular price: $35.00

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Meet the Austins

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
    • Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 92
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 80
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 80

    Vicky Austin and her siblings must adjust to the presence of a new member of the household-Maggie Hamilton, who is orphaned when her father is killed in a plane crash....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Amazing Book!

    • By Hilary on 01-06-15

    Regular price: $23.93

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Moon by Night

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
    • Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 39
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 33
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 33

    In The Moon by Night, we find the Austin children - Vicky, John, Suzy, and Rob - unhappy at the prospect of leaving their beloved Connecticut house and moving to New York City....

    Regular price: $23.93

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Arm of the Starfish

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Michael Crouch
    • Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 48
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 45
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 45

    Caught between Kali's seductive wiles and the trusting adoration of Dr. O'Keefe's daughter, Poly, Adam finds himself enmeshed in a deadly power struggle between two groups of people....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • L'Engle's young adult spy thriller

    • By Adam Shields on 09-19-17

    Regular price: $35.00

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • A Ring of Endless Light

    • By: Madeleine L'Engle
    • Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
    • Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 73
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 61
    • Story
      5 out of 5 stars 61

    After a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Excellent listen!

    • By James on 08-15-11

    Regular price: $23.93

    Free with 30-day Trial
See all titles by Madeleine L'Engle

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