Ava DuVernay, the talented director of the just released movie version of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time (see EW review 3/15), described the experience of reading this classic of children’s literature as opening “the door to an act of love, a pathway through darkness, a call to action and an ode to those who are stronger than they know.”

DuVernay’s high praise of L’Engle’s novel could also apply to the women and men called to action to march since January 2017 for a pathway through darkness for immigrant and women’s rights and against sexual harassment, as well as the courageous Parkland students and their supporters who are actively rallying for saner and safer gun control laws — like Meg Murry, you are stronger than you know. 

Furthermore, how amusing to now read the novel’s memorable opening sentence — “It was a dark and stormy night” — as wry commentary on Trump’s tawdry porn-star affair wreaking havoc on the future of IT (Immoral, Ignorant, Ignoble Trump) and a presidency as insignificant and lackluster as a “wrinkle” in the fabric of Time.

A dark and “stormy” night at the White House, indeed.

Karen D. Myers

Eugene