Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis Hardcover – October 2, 2018
by Patti Callahan (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 1,368 ratings
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“Patti Callahan seems to have found the story she was born to tell in this tale of unlikely friendship turned true love between Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis, that tests the bounds of faith and radically alters both of their lives. Their connection comes to life in Callahan’s expert hands, revealing a connection so persuasive and affecting, we wonder if there’s another like it in history. Luminous and penetrating.” —Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife
In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice.
From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.
“Patti Callahan Henry breathes wondrous fresh life into one of the greatest literary love stories of all time . . . The result is a deeply moving story about love and loss that is transformative and magical.” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan’s Tale
“I was swept along, filled with hope, and entirely beguiled, not only by the life lived behind the veil of C. S. Lewis’s books but also by the woman who won his heart. A literary treasure from first page to last.” —Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours
“Profoundly evocative, revealing an intimate view of a woman whose love and story had never been fully told . . . until now . . . Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a tour de force and the must-read of the season!” —Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of Beach House Reunion
"Patti Callahan somehow inhabits Davidman, taking her readers inside the writer’s hungry mind and heart. We keenly feel Davidman’s struggle to become her own person at a time (the 1950s) when women had few options . . . An astonishing work of biographical fiction." —Lynn Cullen, bestselling author of Mrs. Poe
"Patti Callahan breathes life into this fascinating woman whose hunger for knowledge leads her to buck tradition at every turn." —Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author of The Dream Daughter
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From the Publisher
becoming mrs. lewis
becoming mrs. lewis
The Muse of C.S. Lewis & The Woman Behind Narnia
After reading several works of C.S. Lewis, Joy Davidman was so moved that she wrote him in England. The two were long-distance pen pals for three years before they met in person. Joy eventually moved to England and they married in 1957.
C.S. Lewis called Joy his "whole world (stars, water, air, and field, and forest. as they were reflected in a single mind)."
Joy influenced some of Lewis' most significant works. He was so enraptured with her that her death nearly destroyed him and his faith.
Meet the Woman Beside C.S. Lewis
Expanded Edition
Poet and novelist Joy Davidman once wrote in an essay, “What in the world would ever become of us if we should ever grow brave?” In this novel, we answer that question as we follow Joy on a decade long journey of transformation from a wife and mother in upstate New York to the beloved wife of C. S. Lewis.
The expanded edition of Becoming Mrs. Lewis, the Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis, includes:
A Map of Oxford
An Expanded Discussion Guide with 20+ Questions for Book Clubs
A Timeline of Jack and Joy's Lives
Joy's (imagined) Letter to Jack
10 Things You May Not Know About Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis's Love Story
A Behind the Scenes Essay: Oxford—The City
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becoming mrs. lewis
becoming mrs. lewis
Sneak Peak Behind the Episodes & the Audiobook
This edition collects all the interviews from Patti Callahan's Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis podcast, as well as extensive bonus material not previously released.
Episodes, interviews, and bonus content not previously released include:
What About the Children Part I with Douglas Gresham (before cancer)
What About the Children Part II with Douglas Gresham (after cancer)
Losing Faith: Did Lewis lose his faith after Joy's Death? with Dr. David Downing
Why Joy? Why did Lewis choose Joy Davidman? Dr. Crystal Hurd and Dr. Crystal Downing
Muse and Co-Author - Joy as Lewis' muse and co-author with Andrew Lazo
The Lost Love Sonnets - Joy's poetry to C.S. Lewis with Dr. Don W. King
Surprised by Love - How love found C.S. Lewis with Andrew Lazo
And over two hours of additional bonus content!
Go Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis
An Original Podcast Audiobook
While writing her novel Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan was inspired by numerous experts with scholarly, literary, and personal connections to Lewis and Davidman.
Join author Patti Callahan for a seven-part original podcast that explores in depth the improbable and beautiful love story between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman with exclusive expert interviews and bonus content, including:
Joy Davidman’s son and C.S. Lewis’s step-son, Douglas Gresham
Drs. David and Crystal Downing, codirectors of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College
Dr. Crystal Hurd, author, and editor for Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal and Author, Dr. Andrew Lazo, who specializes in works from C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman
Scholar, speaker, Montreat College Professor and author of Yet One More Spring: A Critical Study of the Words of Joy Davidman, Dr. Don W. King
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Editorial Reviews
Review
'It's novel. And it's a very good one. . . extraordinarily accurate. . . more accurate than most biographical essays that have been written about my mother.' - Douglas Gresham, son of Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis.' (Read Aloud Revival)
'I thought I knew Joy Davidman, the oft mentioned but little examined wife of C. S. Lewis, but in Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan breathes life into this fascinating woman whose hunger for knowledge leads her to buck tradition at every turn. In a beautifully crafted account, Patti unveils Joy as a passionate and courageous--yet very human--seeker of answers to the meaning of life and the depths of faith. Becoming Mrs. Lewis is an unlikely love story that will touch heart, mind, and soul.' --Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author of The Dream Daughter
'Layered with personal reflection, poignant life events, and the Davidman-Lewis journey toward respect and love, Becoming Mrs. Lewis may very well become a literary classic of its own.' (Hope by the Book, GOLD STAR review)
'Patti Callahan has inhabited her subject so convincingly that Joy's light can finally shine brightly. Highly, highly recommended!' (Historical Novels Review)
'Patti Callahan's lyrical novel Becoming Mrs. Lewis details American author Joy Davidman's unconventional friendship-turned-romance with famed author and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis . . . The thoughtful narrative reads more like a memoir than fiction.' (WORLD magazine)
'Callahan (The Bookshop at Water's End) vividly enters the life of a woman searching for both God and romantic love in this pleasing historical novel about writer and poet Joy Davidman. In 1946, Joy lives in Ossining, N.Y., with her alcoholic husband, Bill Gresham, and her two small sons. In a moment of desperation, she prays to a God she doesn't believe in and experiences feeling 'fully known and loved.' Three years later, now deeply considering Christianity, she writes to Christian apologist C.S. Lewis with her questions about God. He responds, beginning a long-term correspondence in which Joy finds 'peace, connection, and intellectual intimacy.' By 1952, she wants to leave her unfaithful, abusive husband, but sees no way out. She does manage to take a much-needed physical and mental respite, heading to England for six months and falling in love with both England and Lewis; her only regret is leaving behind her sons. But, even after Bill and Joy divorce, Lewis at first keeps their relationship platonic, and Joy must search for true love and fulfillment through her relationship with God. Making full use of historical documentation, Callahan has created an incredible portrait of a complex woman.' (Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW)
'In Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan Henry breathes wondrous fresh life into one of the greatest literary love stories of all time: the unlikely romance between English writer C. S. Lewis and the much younger American divorcee, Joy Davidman. Callahan chronicles their complex and unconventional relationship with a sure voice, deep insight into character, and eye for period detail. The result is a deeply moving story about love and loss that is transformative and magical.' --Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale
'Patti Callahan's prose reads like poetry as she deftly unearths a lost love story that begs to be remembered and retold. I was swept along, filled with hope, and entirely beguiled, not only by the life lived behind the veil of C. S. Lewis's books but also by the woman who won his heart. A literary treasure from first page to last.' --Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours
'Becoming Mrs. Lewis is at once profoundly evocative, revealing an intimate view of a woman whose love and story had never been fully told . . . until now. Patti Callahan brings to life the elusive Joy Davidman and illuminates the achingly touching romance between Joy and C . S. Lewis. This is the book Patti Callahan was born to write. Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a tour de force and the must-read of the season!' --Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of Beach House Reunion
'Patti Callahan has written my favorite book of the year. Becoming Mrs. Lewis deftly explores the life and work of Joy Davidman, a bold and brilliant woman who is long overdue her time in the spotlight. Carefully researched. Beautifully written. Deeply romantic. Fiercely intelligent. It is both a meditation on marriage and a whopping grand adventure. Touching, tender, and triumphant, this is a love story for the ages.' --Ariel Lawhon, author of I Was Anastasia
About the Author
Patti Callahan (who also writes as Patti Callahan Henry) is a New York Times bestselling author. Patti was a finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, has been an Indie Next Pick, twice an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year. Her work has also been included in short story collections, anthologies, magazines, and blogs. Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work and Georgia State University for her graduate degree. Once a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she now writes full time. The mother of three children, she lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband. Visit her online at patticallahanhenry.com; Instagram: pattichenry; Facebook: AuthorPattiCallahanHenry; Twitter: @pcalhenry.
Product details
Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
Hardcover : 416 pages
ISBN-10 : 0785224505
ISBN-13 : 978-0785224501
Product Dimensions : 6.38 x 1.34 x 9.57 inches
Publisher : Thomas Nelson (October 2, 2018)
Language: : English
Best Sellers Rank: #54,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#268 in Biographical Historical Fiction
#328 in Historical Christian Romance
#344 in Christian Historical Fiction (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,368 ratings
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Biography
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling novelist of fifteen novels, including the historical fiction (writing as Patti Callahan) BECOMING MRS. LEWIS—The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. In addition, she is the recipient of The Christy Award—A 2019 Winner "Book of the Year.” ; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019, and the RNA UK finalist for Romantic Historical Fiction.
Her newest novel SURVIVING SAVANNAH will be released on March 9, 2021 by Penguin Random House/Berkley Publishing.
She is also the co-founder of the Facebook weekly show Friends and Fiction.
The author is also the host of the popular seven-part original "Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series" launched, October 2019. The podcast audiobook collection including bonus material was released January 2020, and available now. The new expanded Becoming Mrs. Lewis paperback edition was released March 2020, and available now.
On March 9, 2021, SURVIVING SAVANNAH—a new historical fiction novel based on the true story of the Steamship Pulaski wreck will be released and available for pre-order now.
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER (writing as Patti Callahan Henry—Southern Contemporary Fiction) was launched in June 2019, and THE PERFECT LOVE SONG—A Christmas Holiday novella released October 2019.
Patti Callahan is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly Friends and Fiction Facebook Live Show and podcast, featuring the five bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Kristin Harmel, and Mary Alice Monroe with endless stories, special guests, and a way to connect readers and writers.
A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.
Patti's Story
Growing up in Philadelphia as the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Patti learned early the value of storytelling. At the age of twelve, her family moved to South Florida where Patti found the sanctuary of libraries and began her slow but steady journey into understanding the power of story to navigate confusing times in life.
Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work, and Georgia State University for her graduate degree. Once a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she now writes full time. The mother of three children, she now lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Kindle Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy research and inse"nsitive
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2018
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I love the C.S. Lewis books and have enjoyed stories of the Lewis-Davidman marriage. Sadly the author, while a popular NYT best-seller, does not seem too deeply familiar with Lewis' works. There is a George MacDonald book referenced as "The Light Princess" which should correctly be "The Lost Princess." Also the author confuses The Last Battle with The Magician's Nephew in a later chapter where she references the latter only to describe the former. Most importantly, it seems simply audacious to approach a biography in the first person and whether her facts of the lives of the characters are more accurate or less so than the above discrepancies, she could certainly have shown more sensitivity to the individuals she involves in her story. There is a definite feminist bent, which may be allowable, but it does seem she treats Mr. Lewis, and even Ms. Davidman's first husband, with an overly judgmental approach at times. While entertaining, it is not an easy book to digest for one who is sensitive to the authors she purports to admire while dragging their intimate lives into the spotlight post mortem. I would not highly recommend this, her latest book.
226 people found this helpful
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LBF
3.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Narrative Undermined by Author's Style
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2018
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While BECOMING MRS. LEWIS offers a compelling story, there are times when Ms. Callahan's narrative becomes embarrassing because of her saccharine, sentimental style of writing that's reminiscent of a romance novel. By the way, Ms. Callahan, Joy and Jack could not have strolled into London's Blackwell's Bookshop in June 1954 (chapter 37, page 273) because the company did not open a London flagship shop until 1995. While this book is fiction, some cultural references truly need to be accurate. I was very excited about reading this novel and purchased it on the day it was released on Amazon. I just wish that an editor could have eliminated all of the purple prose.
142 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars CALLAHAN’S BEST WORK YET
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2018
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I sensed a feeling of emotion and conviction in this novel that I have not felt in a novel in years. The research and detail made me feel completely wrapped up in Joy and Jacks lives and their love story. I admire Joy and feel inspired by her quest for the truth; I think Patti Callahan did a wonderful job of seeking to tell the story in Joy’s voice and her cadence. After reading the novel (practically overnight as I couldn’t put it down), I feel like I know a woman that not only inspires my confidence and boldness, but one that I would have been good friends with. I think every reader, man or woman, will identify with moments in this novel. I’ve read two of Patti’s other novels but must say THIS IS MY FAVORITE! I could only hope that the novel inspires a movie so that Patti’s story of their life reaches more people. This is Callahan at her finest, in my opinion!
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DMHW
2.0 out of 5 stars I don't think Callahan "gets it"
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2019
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Many negative reviews center on the idea that Joy is unlikeable and even unsympathetic. I disagree; I think the strongest point in Callahan's favor is that she very convincingly portrays a woman who is profoundly lonely in her own life. Joy tries desperately to fit in to the life she is living, but it's just not going to work. I thought the description of Joy's "awakening" when she gets to England was beautiful and very convincing. After that, however, it starts to come apart at the seams. Callahan's dialogue is downright awful in most places. Between Joy and Jack it is convincing, probably because she had so much material to study, but with almost anyone else it is laughably stilted. No relationship in the book aside from Joy and Jack is interesting or believable. They are like cardboard cut outs of dinner partners and villains; a simulacrum of a real life. But the biggest problem I had was that Callahan does not seem to truly understand Christianity (or maybe Joy didn't?). Joy Davidman married one of the most famous Christians on the planet, and yet in the book, Joy's Christianity only comes into consideration only in moments of intense suffering or confusion (the "God of the 911"). Callahan throws out random details like attending liturgy, but they seem like just that: details thrown in to paint a convincing picture, not details that illuminate the character and her thoughts. I don't think that Callahan understands that Christianity is more than a moral philosophy. CS Lewis certainly did, and if the real Joy didn't, that was a profound chasm between them. And yet Callahan portrays them as being largely of one heart and mind when it comes to conversion and living a life of Faith. In the end, it is an unconvincing portrayal of how this unlikely couple ended up together.
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M. L Russell
1.0 out of 5 stars Annoying
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2018
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The Joy Davidman of this soap opera is an annoying, egocentric woman. The emotions she expresses are too intense to be real. The relationship with Jack and their intertwining writing and work together seem overwrought and impossible. A waste of time.
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Jennifer Thompson-Thalasinos
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful love
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2018
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I’ve always been fascinated by CS Lewis’ wife Joy. I knew the basic story: Joy was a divorcee who married her dear friend CS Lewis to stay in England. After shes’s diagnosed with cancer they admit their love for each other.
The full story of Joy is quite complex. Like Mr. Lewis she was an atheist who converted later in life. She was encouraged by a mutual friend to write to Mr. Lewis about faith. In the meantime her relationship with her husband and her health were deteriorating. She takes an extended trip to England and gets to know CS Lewis and his brother. Eventually before returning to America, she finds out her husband has fallen in love with her cousin. Deciding to move to England permanently, she continues her deep friendship with CS Lewis who offers to marry her when she can’t extend her Visa. At this point she’s deeply in love with CS Lewis, but he stays steadfast that they are friends, until learning she has incurable cancer.
This book is very well written. It had me riveted from the very beginning. Although it’s a work of historical fiction, the story itself is completely factual. Throughout the book other famous authors come in and out including PL Travers, TS Elliot, and of course JRR Tolkien. I recommend this book for all CS Lewis fans.
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Rachel Anderson
1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written revisionist history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2020
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I first stumbled across this book in a bookstore and was completely entranced. I decided I had to read the rest of the story. After I bought it, I trudged on through hundreds of pages of dealing with Joy Davidman’s abusive marital relationship (which did actually happen.) I kept waiting for a bit of hope. When she finally meets Lewis, it instantly becomes a romantic relationship for both parties. This is completely inaccurate. I make the mistake of pushing further through finding more and more inaccuracies but hoping it would resolve itself eventually.
About a third of the way through the book, the author chooses to throw in a one night stand with a random man Joy meets in London. As someone who loves the Lord and understands what following Jesus would have meant to both C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman as well as the sexual ethics of the time, this seems an unnecessary and horrible smudge upon her character. It has no representation in truth and would be seen as a basis for slander were the woman alive.
I was also led to believe in the story that the letters quoted are actual tidbits from the existing letters between Davidman and Lewis. Apparently even these have been twisted and imagined.
As someone who loves a good historical fiction, I was disappointed. As someone who loves both Lewis and Davidman I was horrified. Most of all, I was saddened by the revisionist history which wasn’t even well written. It’s one of the first times in my life I’m putting down a book and won’t be finishing it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Stupendous
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2020
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Five stars are insufficient for this book. I found that I could not put it down, that I became so engrossed in it. I hope that given time that I will be able to read most if not all the books in the bibliography to gain further knowledge and understanding.
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Olive Blake
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2019
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Well written and great story. Couldn't put it down. Thanks!
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janet leigh
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2019
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This is not my normal read but it opened up a whole new side to my library.
Ive recommended it to all my reading friends.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A story of the ordinary lives of two extraordinary people
Reviewed in Canada on February 5, 2020
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I liked the insight into how CS Lewis wrote his Narnia series. I was surprised by how large a role religion played in the lives of Joy and CS. As a former Oxford Person, I enjoyed reading about their daily lives in a location that is very special to me. I rated this 4 out of 5 because I save 5 for the rare books that affect my perception of things. This was a very interesting account of the everyday life of two important people.
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Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis
From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all. (less)
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Patti Callahan (Henry) is one of my favorite authors. How do I know this? I own all of her books and a few are “saved” unread for the book apocalypse. You know, I’m well-prepared for that. When I read that she was writing historical fiction for the first time, and that it also involved C.S. Lewis, I was all in.
Joy Davidman is the main character. The book begins with her life as a wife and mother, and I could sense right away that something is not right in her marriage. Her husband is moody and drinks too much, and while there is palpable love between them, there is also a distance, a disconnect.
Joy and her husband are both writers, and after a terrifying experience involving her husband, Joy begins to explore and test her faith. In doing so, she begins writing about faith on behalf of she and her husband in letters of correspondence to C.S. Lewis (Jack). The two begin writing back and forth, exploring and deeply connecting through their words to each other and over their spiritual beliefs.
In a leap of faith, Joy travels to England from America and into the arms of her Jack. I’m in awe of the inspiring love that developed between the two, so remarkable in fact, that Joy is somewhat of a muse for Jack, sparking works that delight us to this day.
While it would be easy to judge Joy for some of her decisions regarding her first marriage, instead I am stirred by her fierce independence and willingness to risk it all for love.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis is not only the love story of Joy and Jack. It’s also their ode to literature. Fans of C.S. Lewis, the historical fiction genre, strong female characters, compelling love stories, and books about books are sure to revel in Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
Not only did Callahan author her first work of historical fiction, she owned it. She was meant to write this genre all along!
Thank you to Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog with pictures 🤓: www.jennifertarheelreader.com (less)
In case you aren't yet persuaded to snatch up this beautiful book for your reading stack, let me add that Patti Callahan's writing is at times so breathtaking, as a writer, I paused to reread a turn of phrase. As magical as the writing is, though, the novel's true magic is the revelation of the man behind the stories we all know and the woman, the outsider, who captured his heart. Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis were an unlikely match, separated by an ocean, an age difference, ghosts of the past, and the general complications of life, and yet love has the power to conquer all. The telling of their story is long overdue.
Read this book. It will remind you that we are, each of us, so much more than the masks we wear. (less)
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review (less)
Well written, a woman few knew much about, a love affair that seemed somewhat unreal but was, and a spiritual searching for snswers from a most unlikely source. As i said I was all over the place as I was reading.
ARC from Netgalley (less)
Author Patti Callahan is a writer’s writer and a reader’s dream. Her prose is lush, her characterizations true, and her fictionalized account is thrilling as she retells the towering love story between C.S. Lewis, the 20th Century’s greatest Christian apologist, and Joy Davidman, Brooklyn divorcee and Jewish covert to Christianity.
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS recounts the romance between these two brilliant, flawed people ... one the Oxford Don who called himself “the most reluctant covert in all England” the night he came to faith, and the other a New York writer once married to an alcoholic, desperate for hope in a life of poverty and despair.
The impact of their love still resonates, through Lewis’s “A Grief Observed” written after losing his wife to cancer soon after marriage ... and now through the resplendent BECOMING MRS. LEWIS. 5 Glorious Stars!
Thanks to Patti Callahan, Thomas Nelson-Fiction and NetGalley for the advance copy. Opinions are fully mine. (less)
I was interested in reading this book because I am a fan of C.S. Lewis. I hadn’t heard of Joy Davidman before, so I was curious to learn more about her. Please note that although this book is based on real people and real events, it is still a work of historical fiction.
This book was incredible. It beautifully depicted the relationship between Lewis and Davidman. Their romance was unconventional but epic. The love they had for one another is truly remarkable. I loved how they influenced each other’s work and treated each other as equals.
Joy was such a strong woman. I enjoyed learning her backstory and seeing how she had the courage to not only leave her alcoholic and cheating husband, but also to start a new life with her children in another country.
I loved the epilogue. It really gave Joy a voice. She comes from a time where people often silenced her voice and contributions. I liked that the author let Joy have the final word.
Since this is a book about C.S. Lewis, is also discusses the Christian faith but it doesn’t go overboard with it. If you’re worried that it might be too religious, don’t be. The heart of the book is really their love story.
Lastly, the endpapers of the book feature a map of Oxford which I found to be a really nice touch, since the Narnia books are known to have maps.
Overall, this is an amazing read! If you are fan of C.S. Lewis or love books about incredible women, then pick this one up! (less)
Here's a book about a woman who was determined to pursue her dreams and seek true love and so rationalized an emotional/intellectual affair and a physical leaving of family during a months-long search-for-self across an ocean. I do not have warm regard for Mrs. Lewis if even 10% of this historical fiction is fact-ish.
Sometimes I, too, would rather write poems than prep meals or mend clothes, but that doesn't make me special; it makes me selfish.
Her first marriage was junk, but it was still a marriage. I don't know why anyone should celebrate a failed marriage even if it made for a remarkable literary matchmaking down the road.
Again though, the genre designation is key: historical *fiction.* (less)
This book has taken a piece of my heart with it when I finished it, never to be returned!
I'll admit to having never read a C.S. Lewis book and never having heard of his wife, Joy.
This book isn't just a mundane book about their life and how they met, it started out by her contacting him by letter, by the way. No, this book has a depth which may be deeper than the ocean, nor is it one dimensional. This book has so many layers, like an onion waiting to be peeled and discovered. When you think you have it all down and understand their lives separately and together you will discover your understanding is just at it's beginning. C.S. Lewis was a man who enjoyed the simple life, a good (fag) cigarette, a whiskey and simple friendships. He did not have a need for romance, he had his books and his writing. he had more of a need for a deep friendship with Joy than anything else. He came to depend on her in many aspects of his book work. An unlikely friendship that developed into true love. This book develops all the truth,tenderness and triumph you could expect in this time period, the 1950's. Joy Davidman was a woman who had a voice when women were expected not to.
Pub Date 02 Oct 2018
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson--FICTION through NetGalley. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own. (less)
SUMMARY
Joy Davidman is a writer and poet living in Ossining NY in 1946. She is locked in a loveless marriage with her alcoholic husband, Bill Gresham, and their two young sons. In a moment of desperation, she says a prayer to a God she doesn’t believe in and has an overwhelming experience that causes her to want to find out more about Christianity. She writes to Christian apologist C. S. Lewis with questions about God. Lewis responds, beginning a long-term correspondence between the two. Joy finds friendship, solace and wisdom in the letters she receives. By 1952, her husband is both unfaithful and abusive, but Joy can find no way out. Her health is suffering from the stress, and she is under doctors orders to rest. She heads to England for six months, where she meets Lewis for the first time. She falls in love with both England and Lewis, but ultimately must return to the US. There, she is fully committed to divorcing her husband, and returning to England with her two sons. Once she returns to England, Joy is ever hopeful her platonic relationship with Jack, will be transformed into something more.
“You tolerate what you must when it becomes your reality.“
“God might not fix things for me, but he would be with me in whatever waited ahead, that was clear.”
REVIEW
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS is a fascinating historical love story of two literary giants. Joy was a intelligent and strong woman with a voice far ahead of her time. Patti Callahan Henry has recreated the exquisite details of the improbable friendship and ultimate romance between two people a world apart geographically, spiritually, and emotionally.
I particularly loved Henry’s vivid descriptions of Lewis’s home, The Kilns, as well as the depictions of the joy-filled times the two shared together, going for walks or sitting in front of the fireplace sharing stories. While this is a work of historical fiction, readers of C. S. Lewis will absolutely love a glimpse at the personal surroundings, thoughts and feelings of the man behind the beloved characters of Aslan and Wormwood.
Henry’s writing is evocative and masterful. She was inspired to write the story because of her love for the fascinating works of C. S. Lewis. Once she read Lewis’s A Grief Observed, she was committed to finding out more about the women he loved so fiercely he called her “his whole world.” Henry researched Joy’s writing and traveled to the Wade Center at Wheaton College where Joy’s papers are kept alongside C.S. Lewis’s. BECOMING MRS. LEWIS is her fourteenth novel.
“We can’t just surrender to our every desire. Man must have his principles and live by them regardless. Our nature must must be controlled or it can ruin our lives.”
Publisher Thomas Nelson
Published October 2, 2018
Narrated Lauren Woodward
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
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My reviews can be found here: https://yayareadslotsofbooks.wordpres...
It is often very hard to find true love, searching for it, we so many times stumble looking for that one person who makes us whole, who makes us feel valued, who makes us feel loved.
In Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan explores the love story between C. S. Lewis, a well known older author living in England, and Joy Davidman, a young poet, mother, who was trapped in a marriage to an alcoholic and phil ...more
The italicized thought of Joy mid page 320 “or take me in your arms and set me down on that bed and make love to me”. I actually eye rolled. I wonder if either Lewis or Joy would want things like that included. Doubt it.
My main issue, besides the mediocre writing, which made it easy to skim big portions at a time, was with Joy’s portrayal. She’s selfish, promiscuous, and even childish in her thoughts and conversations regarding her parents. I found her non relatable as a mother. The author continues to drag you along with Joy’s feelings towards Jack to the point of annoyance. Ultimately it’s just distracting.
All while I was reading I kept thinking that this story doesn’t do their story justice. I much preferred Douglas Gresham’s book about Jack, where he tastefully and beautifully describes their relationship. Go read that instead. (less)
If I had the teensiest of tiniest complaints it's that sometimes it felt like the dialogue was awfully polished. I mean, these are very intellectual, academic characters we're reading about, but even so...there were moments when I thought, "Could a person really be this eloquent in everyday conversation?" But again...tiny, little thing and not nearly enough for me to knock off a star.
Thanks to NetGalley for the courtesy copy of this book. I wasn't required to write a review and all thoughts are my own. (less)
Patti Callahan in A Note From the Author, Becoming Mrs. Lewis
I knew nothing about poet and novelist Joy Davidman before, and very little about C.S. Lewis other than he has written many books that I've never had the slightest interest in. The author, however, has been a fan for years of them both and strove to make Joy's extraordinary accomplishments known. Callahan has given us the story of how a married Jewish woman and mother of two became a Christian with the courage to leave her husband and America, to meet her penpal and spiritual advisor Mr. Lewis, then a professor at Oxford, and eventually move to England to work side by side with him as an intellectual equal. She was his co-writer, his editor, his muse, and his love, joy, and grief. She received very little recognition.
Callahan's prose had to be brilliant to convey that of Joy's, and she met that challenge. I found the book to be lovely. Only a few times did I think it verged on being preachy (both of the main characters were quite devout, but not boring), and it came pretty darn close to being a romance book, but in the end I'd simply say it was heartbreakingly romantic. Their conversations were thought provoking and intellectually stimulating, never sappy. I intend to read something by each of them. (less)
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