I was also reading my beloved copy of "The Summer of the Great Grandmother" this week and also decided to check this out from the library, because I wasn't sure if I had read it or not.
Much (all) of the present storyline of the book takes place in New York, in and around the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I know that she actually spent time at the library of this cathedral - Kati and Kari and I had always wanted to bump into her on the grounds, and we're sad now, that that is never going to be possible.
It's interesting that in these couple weeks where I seem to be quite present for my teen self (doing the focus groups, promoting Pat's "middle grades" book, thinking about what I was doing during these teen years) -- that I read this book and will be reading "Wild Girls".
This book, although an adult novel, has a lot of teens and children being mentored and encouraged to develop their talents (both in Katherine's past and present). Katherine Vigneras, the distinguished pianist who is the main character, becomes a teacher/mentor for a young girl who finds she is a good composer (she loses her ability to practice her main talent, dancing, because of a tragic accident).
Yolande, a former pop singer, teaches another young girl who has a singing gift.
And really there is a good mystery here, but on top of that is just feeling like I'm spending some time hanging out with Madeleine L'Engle. You feel that L'Engle herself, as a famous author living in NY, may have dealt with some of the prank calls and other trappings of fame, that Katherine does in the book.
And then in Pat Murphy's "Wild Girls" -- we have a charismatic writing teacher who brings out the talents of Joan and Fox...
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