Moving and romantic, this coming-of-age story was written during the 1940s. As revealed in an introduction by the author’s granddaughter Lena Roy, the protagonist Elizabeth is close to an autobiographical portrait of L'Engle herself as a young woman–vibrant, vulnerable, and yearning for love and all that life has to offer.

During the summer of 1946, twenty-year-old Elizabeth is doing what she has dreamed of since she was a little girl: working in the theatre. Elizabeth is passionate about her work and determined to learn all she can at the summer theatre company on the sea where she is an apprentice actress. She’s never felt so alive.

And soon she finds another passion: Kurt Canitz, the dashing young director of the company, and the first man Elizabeth’s ever kissed who has really meant something to her.

Then Elizabeth’s perfect summer is profoundly shaken when Kurt turns out not to be the kind of man she thought he was.

Praise for The Joys of Love:

The Joys of Love [is] a story of first love and the romance of the theater. Written in the early ‘40s by Madeleine L'Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time), who died last year, the book has been published for the first time thanks to the efforts of her granddaughters. –Parade magazine, a Kids Summer Reading 2008 pick

Ardent fans [will be] … grateful for a last chance to dip into something new by the author. –The Christian Science Monitor

L'Engle completists will be interested in this early (1940s) and heretofore unpublished novel about a young and idealistic actress’s apprenticeship in summer theater. The writing is earnest and emotional. –The Horn Book

Teens … will warm to the author’s characteristic, slice-to-the-heart expressions of emotion, while the realistic portrayal of the summer-stock theater scene will draw aspiring actors. –Booklist

It will … interest readers who want to know more about the author of the groundbreaking A Wrinkle in Time, especially because in an introduction by L'Engle’s granddauther Lena Roy identifies it as semiautobiographical. –Publishers Weekly

L'Engle revisits her own theater experiences at the beach in the 1940s, making this novel’s salty breezes, musty shared quarters, and boardwalk burgers vivid. –School Library Journal

A joy indeed. –Kirkus Reviews

Books by Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time Quintet A Wrinkle in Time A Wind in the Door A Swiftly Tilting Planet Many Waters An Acceptable Time

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle; adapted & illustrated by Hope Larson

Intergalactic P.S. 3 by Madeleine L'Engle; illustrated by Hope Larson: A standalone story set in the world of A Wrinkle in Time.

The Austin Family Chronicles Meet the Austins (Volume 1)
The Moon by Night (Volume 2)
The Young Unicorns (Volume 3) A Ring of Endless Light (Volume 4) A Newbery Honor book! Troubling a Star (Volume 5)

The Polly O'Keefe books The Arm of the Starfish Dragons in the Waters A House Like a Lotus

And Both Were Young

Camilla

The Joys of Love