Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith by Deborah Heiligman Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011 This book is recommended for young readers from 12 and up Lexile Reading Level 1020L (MetaMetrics) Awards: YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Readers 2010 Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2010 National Book Award Finalist 2010 I selected this book for several reasons not the least of which because I was in the mood for a LOVE STORY. This biography of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma was the perfect choice in that respect. The love and respect between these two was genuine and breached a divide that for many others might have been insurmountable. Emma Wedgwood was deeply religious while Charles was a scientist and agnostic.
Charles and Emma were first cousins and considered a great match by both of their families. The author explains that it was not uncommon for first cousins to wed in Victorian England. Indeed, two of Charles’s sisters married two of Emma’s brothers! It was sometimes hard to keep up with all the family members and their relationships so it was helpful that the author included a family tree in her book. This book received several awards and it was easy to understand why. Not only is it meticulously researched, but author Heiligman is an expert storyteller. Besides the great love story, there is humor, pathos, angst, and suspense. When the Darwins’s daughter Annie gets sick, Heiligman keeps the reader riveted with worry as we suffer along with the little girl’s parents not knowing whether Annie will live or die. I like the way Heiligman tells her story linearly. It’s popular these days for books and movies to tell much of their stories in flashback which I often find confusing. When we first meet Charles Darwin it is 1838 and the young man makes a list (as we learn is a habit of his) to help him decide whether or not to take a wife. Darwin writes “Marry”, “Not Marry”, “This is the Question” (p. 5) at the top of a piece of paper and proceeds to fill his columns with pros and cons. We learn of Charles’s heartbreak when his first love, Fanny, marries someone else while he is on his famous voyage on the Beagle. Despite his sadness, Heiligman lets us see that his sense of humor remains intact. In a reply to his sister Caroline who broke the news to him Charles wrote, “It may be all very delightful to those concerned but as I like unmarried women better than those in the blessed state, I vote it a bore” (p. 33-34). Heiligman’s subjects were prolific letter writers so she has much first-person information to share with us and much of the book is told in Charles’s and Emma’s own words. Every chapter has a clever title along with a quote from either Charles or Emma that helps us know these two better and hints at the events to come. For Chapter 24 “Terrible Suffering” we read, “Yearly more are bred than can survive; the smallest grain in the balance, in the long run, must tell on which death shall fall, and which shall survive” which Charles wrote in 1844 (p. 166). This scientific observation foreshadows the sad events to follow with the birth of the Darwins’ tenth and last child, Charles Waring Darwin in 1856. The sweet baby was apparently mentally and physically handicapped (the author doesn’t explain exactly) and died at 18 months. As I said, I was attracted to this book because I was looking for a love story. I knew nothing about the Darwins as a couple or as a family. I saw that this book had won multiple awards which made it worthy of examination. I’m interested in Victorian times so the cover art interested me. As you can see it’s a provocative silhouette of an ape, Charles with arms crossed, and Emma holding a cross. I love puns and found the “Leap of Faith” in the title to be especially clever since this book explores their relationship that thrived despite what would seem to be insurmountable odds, their very different religious beliefs. I thought the author did a great job keeping the story moving. If I have any criticism at all it is with Charles himself. I scarcely think a page went by without the word “sick” or “sickly” on it. Charles apparently suffered most of his life with intestinal and digestive problems. It is wonderful he persevered with his work despite all of that, but I did get a little tired of hearing about it. I could never be as dedicated as he was, writing about barnacles for years or studying earthworms. I kept thinking how lucky he was to have Emma because not many women (of any era) would be so patient and understanding. There are hundreds of books about Charles Darwin for all ages for anyone interested in Darwin the scientist. His autobiography was originally published several years after his death. It was edited by his son Francis (known as Frank) who, along with Emma, edited out certain passages that they were afraid would be too controversial and would offend readers and Charles’s admirers (p. 230). Many years later, the unedited version was published so those wanting to know Charles Darwin in his own words should examine that along with his seminal work, The Origin of the Species. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to someone seeking to know Darwin the scientist, however. Who he was as a scientist isn’t key to this story in my opinion. First and foremost this is a love story, set in Victorian times, between two extraordinary people. Charles and Emma overcame great tragedy, including the loss of beloved children, to forge an unbreakable bond of mutual respect, devotion, and undying love that lasted a lifetime. Their story would make a great novel, but is all the more compelling for its truth. In her acknowledgements the author says, “Writing this book was a labor of love” (p. 237) and the result of her efforts was this wonderful love story. Resources: Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith. New York: Henry Holt & Company. Kirkus Reviews. (2011, January 1). {Review of the book Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/deborah-heiligman/charles-and-emma/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780312661045/
1 Comment
M. Jackson
11/26/2017 01:37:39 pm
Hello and thank you for your deep analysis of all the books on you blog. I am enjoying reading about them.
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