A house like a lotus Book

Maybe it's because I've done so much work with people who have a history of sexual abuse, but this book struck me as mostly being about would-be predators and actual predators. I don't care if it's 1984 or 1954 or 1864, it's still creepy for a dude in his mid- to late 20s to be dating a 16-year-old, and to seduce her when she's at her most emotionally vulnerable. The book's structure is also kind of nonsensical, and it is never wise to have the story you're telling in flashback be more interesting than the story of the present. The love interest in the present - Zachary Grey - is a creeper and also insufferable, and Polly herself (excuse me, Polyhymnia) has virtually no personality of her own. It's hard to root for her, or feel sympathy for her as she gallivants around the world or lives at home with her accepting parents on an island off the coast of South Carolina. And then there are the maybe-predatory lesbians with their deadly tropical diseases - I actually don't think this even is an AIDS metaphor, but if it is, it doesn't make any sense as one. Considering this is a later book for L'Engle, it almost seems like she took for granted the fact that people would read it. As an advertisement for travel to Greece or Cyprus - it's so great when you get to randomly leave school to take a gofer job at a conference of wordly writers! - it's A++. As a novel, it's a bit of a mess.