When I was a young boy I remember reading Wrinkle in Time for the first time. I was caught up with wonder as I traveled with courageous characters through mysterious territory. Madeline L'Engle had broken new and original ground for the time - Sci-Fi and imaginative fantasy for children. In fact, it was so groundbreaking that no one would publish the book.
Fifty years passed and the publishing world lit up with anniversary editions of Wrinkle in Time (2012) that often included a history of the work as well as the award-winning author's biography. I ordered one in order to read the story as an adult. Even with the ubiquitous publishing of fantasy fiction during the intervening years the novel held my same rapt attention.
And now Wrinkle in Time is showing on the silver screen. Because I wanted to see just how one would adapt the novel to screen play I bought my ticket and held my breath. Because it was Disney I was one of the oldest ones in the theatre, flanked by children 8-12 years old.
I can't say that I was especially pleased or inspired with the rendition. It's been scrubbed of the universal Christian references, the same kind of which you find in C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. What's more the cinematography distracted me from the story more than amplifying it. But the children were enthralled. The family-friendly themes can't be beat: the heart's longing for the lost beloved family member, mysterious dimensions beyond what is seen, surprising powers that can help us, the lurking presence of evil, and love's power to take us where we need to go. Parents and grandparents, you can't lose on this one. Swallow hard and buy the hyper-inflated concessions. And then take the children out to ice cream afterwards and discuss what has just been seen. That's a date everyone will enjoy.
Oh, back to the resistance of the publishing industry to take a gamble on Wrinkle. L'Engle had shopped it to over thirty publishing houses and had receive exactly that many rejection slips. No one wanted to take a risk on something that offbeat. One Sunday L'Engle was attending her Episcopal church when she sat in a pew beside a regular attender. Her manuscript was in a large envelope that she kept near her. Her pew mate asked her what she was working on and she told the story of her book and the continuous rejections by the publishing companies. At that her pew mate asked if he might take a look. It just so happened that he was a publisher who was interested in new acquisitions and children's material. The rest of the story bloomed from the seed of that moment: Wrinkle in Time had a publisher and became an instant phenomenon.
I heard L'Engle speak of this before she passed. She said that she routinely kept all of the rejection slips with her in her purse. When she would attend some kind of reception or party and a publisher would come up to her and wax poetically about how he wish he had the chance to publish Wrinkle in Time, she paused, pulled the rejection slips out of her purse, and thumbed through them until she found the exact rejection notice from that publisher. Showing it to the man she would say, "Oh, but you did have a chance. And as you can see you rejected it just like all the others!"
The arc of history is long, as they say, but it bends toward justice. Some of the most important works (and most profitable) have been mightily rejected before they finally bounded onto the world stage, even before the author's death. Harry Potter is just such an example. J.K. Rowling was living on public assistance and could not find a publisher to consider her work. One eventually did, of course, and to the chagrin of every one that previously rejected or ignored her.
So the message is the same: Don't give up! The children in Wrinkle in Time will find their father through the power of love even if he is lost in another dimension. Your manuscript will find a publisher even if your work is a treasure that has been crafted before its time. And just when all seems lost the arc of history may bend in ways you never even imagined.
