"A Severed Wasp" kept me engaged and I read it quickly. There were certainly some wonderful lines in this book, and continuing Katherine's story is a treat, but I do agree with other reviews that mentioned that at times the soap opera melodrama is heaped on.

I read this immediately after devouring "The Small Rain" and enjoyed seeing where the years had taken both L'Engle as a writer and Madame Vigneras as a character... both matured and deepened in the 40+ years that passed between the two novels, as one rightly expects, but there were several times I could imagine this book being about a different heroine altogether as Katherine and many of the characters from the first book have drastically departed from who they were when last we left them.

While I ultimately enjoyed The Small Rain more, the themes in this book disrupted and challenged me in helpful ways. Both are worth a read. Forgiveness, aging, and fidelity were explored through complex relationships, perhaps the most unexpected of which is that of art and religion. Katherine is a window cleaner, after all.

Powerful and Healing

This is among the best and most fulfilling of novels in much the same way as I find Susan Howach’s novels healing. Complex and fully human characters reflect the various experiences of a fully alive life.

It's interesting to think that L'Engle wrote this novel so many years after "The Small Rain". We see Katherine Vigneras retired from piano performance and settling in NYC, reconnecting with a friend from long ago and getting drawn into a psychological drama. Again, I am amazed at the way people approach the main character. It's typically like this: "Katherine/Katya/Madame Vigneras, I've only known you for a few days/two minutes/an hour but I feel like you know my soul and so I'm going to talk to you in a way that most people only do with their therapist of twenty years." ! That feels a little odd, as if the main character is just a foil for confession on the part of others.

This book came out in the early 1980s, and L'Engle touches upon the cultural obsession with sex and sexuality in a very current way. (Nothing new under the sun, I suppose.) I do like the way Katherine talks about marriage as something that requires effort but is ultimately worth that effort, encouraging others to persevere and show grace to one another.

a story deeply human and divine

This book has so much dialogue that it feels like you are dwelling amongst the people in Katherine’s new life centered around a cathedral. Each character is drawn to this magnificent classical pianist seeking solace, redemption, healing or forgiveness. It is a story which demonstrates how genuine compassion and love has the power to heal.

The only book by this author I knew about was, of course, A Wrinkle in Time. I didn’t read the book, I saw the play performed by the company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was so enchanting that I got a copy of the book, which I read. That was a long time ago. This book came to me from a book sale. It is a soap opera of a book. As an old woman, a retired concert pianist of such acclaim that people address her as “Madame”, looks back on her life, and an unbelievable series of events occur. She owns an old building with multiple apartments and one of her tenants invites her to accompany her to an event at an Episcopal cathedral. Neither woman is a member of the Episcopal Church, but when they arrive, they meet a friend of Katherine’s from her early years in New York, decades before World II, Katharine’s marriage to her piano teacher and her many years of fame. About every five pages there is another crisis or revelation, either in the present or the past, until the reader is feeling shocked and amazed at such events. There are births, deaths, accidents and coincidences beyond belief. A hard read.

If a student turned writing like this in, I'd be proud. If I had never heard of the author, I would probably put it down. From Madeleine L'Engle, it's disappointing (and oh, does it hurt to say that). I'm only pushing through out of loyalty to her. This book would probably make a dynamite short story, but it just takes so long for everything to happen! It's a little soap-opera-y too, like too many sensationalist subplots. I do like the characterization. Whatever. I'm not quite done, but I know the last chapter won't change my mind. That certainty is what makes this book not as good as it could be. I wouldn't recommend it; go for Meet the Austins or A Wrinkle in Time and their successors.

Having loved L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time (and related stories), I devoured A Small Rain and A Severed Wasp over a weekend. I have to say that I enjoyed the grownup Katherine more than I did the helpless youthful Katherine. Her character is graceful, composed, elegant, but still human. The New York atmosphere gave it additional romance, all of that tenseness and heat of the city.

Didn’t like this as much as I thought I would, especially because The Small Rain is one of my favorites. There were definitely some poignant moments and this touching quote has stuck with me:

“We are, perhaps, our own crosses, but we will be given the strength to bear them.”

Overall, it just felt very unrealistic.

Not my favorite L'Engle book -- it depressed me a bit, but still good. About an old woman/pianist looking back on her life.

The Severed Wasp is a meaningful book. I love the setting in New York on and around the cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The novel is loaded with interesting characters and their personal stories. The main character is a retired concert pianist Katherine Vigneras. She reconnects with an old friend from her youth who is now a bishop. Through him, she meets many in the cathedral community.

As the story unfolds, readers will see her come to terms with many painful and traumatic moments in her life. As she goes through these memories, she finds that she is regard as a person of great strength and character by others. She reaches out to help other characters in the novel who are experiencing their own difficulties.

An amazing book, beautifully written.

Another delight! Madeleines use of words draw you in to her story just as the music draws you IN the book! The depth of the characters, the story of their successes and failures, and the nuggets of truth that comes out in the religious characters and from Katherine herself! Certainly worthy of a re-read! I will miss these characters!

Such a great sequel to Small Rain- it really completes the story

I loved this so much better than Small Rain. In Small Rain she created an outline and developed the characters superbly but in A Severed Wasp she completely told the story and filled in all the gaps. She told Katherine’s life completely. I was mesmerized for the whole story and very sorry it had to end.