I liked this book a lot while I was reading it. It has two plots - one in the present and one in the past. In the present, a woman has run away from her husband for an undisclosed reason. In the past, a girl has been given to a convent and is told to dedicate herself to God rather than any man (which, of course, proves to be a struggle for her). The past time line is told partially through direct narrative and partially via the main character from the present timeline reading the book of love letters between the two people in the past. Both timelines explore themes about what love and marriage requires of people, and more generally what it means to have an obligation, particularly to other people. And then, in the very end of the book - literally the last chapter - L'Engle made an awful choice and I ended up hating this book. She takes the theme of obligation, compromise, and self-sacrifice, and turns it into martyrdom.

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