The April 12, 2004 issue of the New Yorker had a nice interview with our subject. Apparently her kids did not forget portrayals in her books they felt revealed too intimate of details.
The Meet the Austins series is typical in mentioning cats, like one named Prunewhip, who is exceptionally ugly. I myself cannot imagine an ugly cat.
In a book, Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L'Engle in Many Voices (Leonard S. Marcus, 2012) where various friends recall the author, one notes that she let cats get on the table, and lick food. One of those interviewed is Thomas Cahill, the noted author. L'Engle had invested a large amount of money in a company he started, and then she lost it all when the company failed. She would not let him apologize, "It is only money," she told him. Cahill said this response "was one of the most extraordinarily generous things anyone had ever done for me."
That may be part of her appeal: a genuine ability to integrate your words and your actions. That is not common.
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