I have read a few of L'Engle's classic children's stories, but never knew she wrote nonfiction until I stumbled upon this omnibus of the Genesis trilogy including And It Was Good, A Stone for a Pillow, and Sold Into Egypt. To be quite honest, when I purchased it I still thought it was a fictionalized retelling of Genesis until I took a closer look and discovered otherwise. I wasn't sure what I would think of L'Engle's interpretations of these Biblical stories - after all, when I was a kid C.S. Lewis was okay and Madeleine L'Engle was questionable in some circles - but was really impressed with this collection.

And It Was Good focuses on events of the first twenty-two chapters of Genesis, from Creation to Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac and what she felt God was teaching her in her personal daily reading.

A Stone for a Pillow is the story of Jacob, intertwined with L'Engle's personal thoughts on God, love, the interconnectivity of the universe, and giving blessings instead of cursing.

Finally, Sold Into Egypt rounds out the book of Genesis with Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery and their eventual reconciliation. Written a few years later than the other two, the book also includes thoughts on loss and death, and the danger in having a God to narrowly defined by tradition instead of the Word.

I found L'Engle's comments provoking, sometimes meshing with my own understanding and sometimes challenging me to think about why I believe what I believe. We come from different faith traditions (though both Christian), but there was a lot we could agree on. I found it particularly interesting reading the first two titles when I was also reading Genesis, and her thoughts sometimes provided fresh insight into a familiar passage. Despite what I had been told when I was a child, I think Madeleine L'Engle's nonfiction has a lot in common with that of C.S. Lewis's, and I highly recommend this series. ( )