Madeleine L'Engle Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Nina Brown Baker

Critical Essay by Nina Brown Baker

Katherine [of "The Small Rain"], despite her quite special environment, seems typical rather than unique. Her heartaches and raptures, her yearning for "someone you can really talk to," her high resolves and black despairs, are nothing but the old achingly familiar process of growing up. And yet, the young (and those who have not forgotten how it feels to be young) should find this a moving story…. "The Small Rain" gives evidence of a fresh new talent.

Nina Brown Baker, "Storm-Tossed Adolescence," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1945 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), March 11, 1945, p. 8.