Like most of Madeleine L’Engle’s novels, The Other Side of the Sun is a story about finding where you belong and the difficult journey of getting there. In The Other Side of the Sun, Stella a young British girl arrives at Illyria, the family home of her fiancé. Her husband’s family, the Reniers, is Southern aristocracy and have a dark and mysterious history that is deeply entwined with the war-torn and violent history of the South. It is a history of hatred, greed, and revenge.
Displaced Characters
Stella goes to Illyria to wait for her husband who is on a mission in a foreign country. When she arrives, Stella realizes that her expectations were not only erroneous but completely inadequate for what she discovers about her husband’s family and their home. “What, after all, had I expected? Something not quite so foreign and bewildering; something, which would bring me closer to my husband. But the more I saw of this alien land and its people from whom he had come, the more he was becoming a stranger to me.”
Dangerous Relatives
It does not take Stella long to realize that beneath the calm exterior of family life lies a seething mass of hostility. And while she is given a family tree to help her understand who is who and where they fit, Stella soon realizes that relationships are not as clear as they seem. As a result, Stella begins the difficult job of trying to figure out how everyone relates. However, Stella’s innocent unprejudiced heart leads her into relationships that endanger all that she loves.
Influential Ancestors
Stella is given the journals of the family matriarch Mado. From the journals Stella begins to learn about the family history and to learn about grace, acceptance, belonging, and the other side of the sun. Mado writes “Only on love’s terrible other side is found the place where the lion and the lamb abide.” Stella learns the truth in Mado’s words in the heart-rending yet strengthening climax of her story.
A Common Theme in L’Engle’s Novels
Most of Madeleine L’Engle’s so-called adult novels are rather long. At 344 pages, The Other Side of the Sun is no exception. However, L’Engle is a skilled wordsmith and the language in her novels flows smoothly while the thoughts challenge the reader, making her books a joy to read.
Like many of L’Engle’s novels, The Other Side of the Sun is a complicated story about the pain and complexity of life and yet the redeeming thread that runs through all of her novels, including The Other Side of the Sun, is the recognition that no matter how painful or complex life is the answers are simple. When one passes through the pain one is then rewarded with the ultimate peace where the lion and the lamb lie down together.
Read more about Madeliene L'Engle at Suite101.
