The Summer of the Great-Grandmother

The Crosswicks Journals, Book 2

By: Madeleine L'Engle

Narrated by: Pamela Almand

A poignant meditation on the bonds between mothers and daughters - and the inescapable effects of time - from the author of A Wrinkle in Time.

In the second memoir of her Crosswicks Journals, Madeleine L'Engle chronicles a season of extremes. Four generations of family have gathered at Crosswicks, her Connecticut farmhouse, to care for L'Engle's ninety-year-old mother. As summer days fade to sleepless nights, her mother's health rapidly declines and her once astute mind slips into senility. With poignant honesty, L'Engle describes the gifts and graces, as well as the painful emotional cost, of caring for the one who once cared for you.

As she spends her days with a mother who barely resembles the competent and vigorous woman who bore and raised her, L'Engle delves into her memories, reflecting on the lives of the strong women in her family's history. Evoking both personal experiences and universal themes, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother takes an unflinching look at diminishment and death, all the while celebrating the wonder of life.

©2018 Crosswicks, Ltd.; 1974 Crosswicks, Ltd. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Enjoyed every moment!

Very well written, relatable, allowed a sense of each characters feelings towards the family unit!

M. L’Engle

A magical, spiritual author whose books have broadened my horizons since I was 10. This one helps me finally mourn my mother, father, grandmothers. Poignant and clearsighted.

Loss of a mother

Endearing. Relatable. Comforting. Inspiring. I miss my mother too. Madeline L’Engle’s relationship with her mother, the process of caring for her dying mother, the funeral arrangements - and then life goes on.

Helped me through a death and actually uplifting

What did you love best about The Summer of the Great-Grandmother?

This was non-fiction by the woman who wrote A Wrinkle In Time, wildly popular right now again. She writes non-fiction about life in general and her memories of life as a writer with a family in a 200-year-old house in the country. It is humorous and insightful and is sprinkled with philosophy and faith. Just a wonderful audiobook read with warmth and humor and feeling. It helped me get through the death of a family member and actually feel at peace and serene with it.

Have you listened to any of Pamela Almand’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. She reads warmly and with the amused humor and feeling I think the author inteneded. Her voice calms me and makes me smile. I see that she has read other books by Madeleine LEngeland I certainly will listen to those, too.

Any additional comments?

Madeleine LEngel is just a good at writing nonfiction as she was for Wrinkle In Time. Her great heart and her faith and her humanity comes through in this book and uplifts you and makes you think.