Now a USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestseller! “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 … 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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I absolutely loved this book! This is a book I highly recommend! If you are looking for a page turner, not wanting to stop reading. This is your book!!!
This was an amazing book that brought an iconic couple to life. Full of insight into human foibles and the wonders of transcendent grace, it has a lot of depth without being weighty. I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end. Simply wonderful!
Enjoyable read.
I really loved how the author wrote about Joy and her experience with God. Joy had been living live with masks on in order to survive until her correspondence with C.S Lewis started. This story was about Joy as she traversed life discovering herself and God. I admired Joy’s resolute to love despite her husband’s woes. I loved the history in this book with all wonderful architecture of England. It was so sad to read how her childhood especially her relationship with her dad influenced the way she viewed love. The love between Joy and Jack was really improbable. I saw myself wishing for a love like theirs. I loved this book in its entirety. Beautiful, captivating, wonderful lessons to learn. They were a force to be reckoned with. Two people humanity should never forget.
The author dad an absolutely fantastic job writing this book. This book will outlive us all.
A brave and indomitable woman was Joy.
A beautiful tear jerking, heart wrenching story of how we can only discover our lives by surrendering it to God. God did not love us because we are lovable but because He is love.
I recieved a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.
I didn’t know a lot about CS Lewis’s wife Joy. I love how Patti Callahan brought them to life for me! I highly recommend this book.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis is the story about the love affair between Joy Davidman and C.S.Lewis. If you don’t know who C.S.Lewis is; Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. I know he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but not much else.
Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. She was married to William Lindsay Gresham, they had two boys and I think that she was very unhappy in the marriage. An introduction by a fellow American writer, Chad Walsh, brought Davidman to begin a correspondence with C. S. Lewis in 1950. She spent Christmas and a fortnight at The Kilns with C.S. Lewis and his brother, Warren. Though Davidman was deeply in love with Lewis, because of his Catholic faith, he did not reciprocate. In the meantime, her husband was having an affair with her cousin Renee, which ultimately led to divorce. Joy went back to England with her sons. The relationship with C.S.Lewis was intellectual at first but later evolved into love.
Joy’s work visa was not going to get renewed so Joy and C.S.Lewis went into civil marriage and they lived separately. Upon having a fall it was found that she had cancer, went into remission but later the cancer came back and she died in 1960, C.S.Lewis died three years later. By that time they did get a Christian marriage.
At first, I didn’t think that I would like this book. But after I started reading I did not want to put it down. This fictionalized version of the relationship between C.S.Lewis and Joy Davidman is very readable. I did not know anything about either of them and found that I was pulled into the story. I was sad that they had such a short married life but happy that they were able to spend time together. At first, a cerebral relationship that turns into a great love story, love for each other, and love for writing. I think if you love historical fiction, you need to read this book. I give it 5 stars!
This was written so well that it seems like a biography – full of life and emotion. Great look into the lives of great authors.
This may be considered historical fiction, but it is wonderfully written. It makes you feel as if you are actually right there with Joy Davidman. You’re drawn into this amazing love story of a very talented and outspoken woman who falls in love with the man behind the stories of Narnia. Patti Callahan does a tremendous job of capturing all the emotions, the struggles and the eventual true love between Joy and C. S. Lewis. Who knew there was such a strong woman behind the man? I know I didn’t until I read this book.
I did not know anything about Joy Davidman and very little about C.S. Lewis before starting this book. Although this is a work of fiction, I can tell that the author did a lot of research before writing this book. I liked the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, most from Joy’s writings. It was a very interesting story and I liked how the characters were described with all of their flaws and attributes. Joy had a hard life in many ways in childhood and as an adult. She did not fit many of the expectations that society had for women. Her relationship with Jack started with her questions about spirituality and grew over time to treasured friendship and more. Joy became more accepting of herself in England where she felt more comfortable and free to be who she was without preexisting expectations. I was surprised by the story in some ways and was sad when it ended.
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What a ride. I could relate so much to Joy’s feelings of being inadequate, unloveable, not good enough, lost, economically unstable and a single parent. I found myself identifying with her so much. Her words seem so real and completely had me wrapped up in her world. I was rooting for her to make it in life, not just with her writing career, but in love and with her sons. She loved hard, which I also relate to, as I can with her health issues. I feel a kinship with Joy. I would love to be able to have coffee with her or maybe a girls trip to share life experiences, get her advice and be in awe of her mind. I know we would have been close friends, like sisters. I admire her writing, her admiration of Lewis(her Jack) and their great relationship. It was so wonderful getting to learn about the backstory It Joy and Jack. It’s truly amazing to get a little glimpse into people from history I only know through their work. I’m so grateful to Callahan for her telling of this story. I’m astounded at the tremendous research she did for this book. She was thorough, detail oriented and so caring with making sure she did justice with their story. This will stick with me for a very long time and I’ve already started looking more into these amazing historical figures.
I read this book a few years ago and was drawn to it because I am a fan of C. S. Lewis’ books. I’ve read many of his nonfiction and a few of his fiction books. His book about his life with Joy was very good. I thought “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” a good read. It filled in details of her life and outlook. It was well-written and hard to put down.
What a beautiful story about a strong, courageous woman history has sidelined and the famous man who earned her love. Joy Davidman, a poet and a writer battled poverty, marital abuse, and societal restrictions to follow her heart and be true to her art.
The language is rich, the characters are unforgettable, and C S Lewis (Jack) comes alive as a man who struggled with rejection and tragedy. I loved the glimpses into his relationship with his brother, Warren, the scenes set in their shambolic home outside Oxford, and the gems that revealed the story behind the inspiration for the Narnia Chronicles.
Most of all, I loved learning about Lewis’ unique relationship with Joy.
There are so many reasons to recommend this incredible novel.
The prose in this book is simply stunning. Lyrical and poetic… I almost feel like the whole novel is a poem, which is apropos, given Joy Davidman’s prodigious poetic talent. I wouldn’t say it’s a page turner per se, as it’s a story thats deeply literary and the focus is intensely on the characters internal lives, particularly Joy’s, but in a more subtle way, Jack’s. It makes one think about all the big questions of the universe, and the ending is sweetly sad. Really great read.
I requested this book based on recommendations from trusted Christian author friends and because it received the 2019 Book of the Year Christy Award. For me, however, it was a huge disappointment. The real-life story may have been romantic, but I found this fictional account to be more sordid than romantic. The story did not hold my interest; and although I really tried, I was unable to finish it because of iffy theology, objectionable language, and sexual references which I never expect to find in this genre. Obviously, I cannot recommend this book.
I received a copy of this book in e-book form from the publisher via netgalley but am under no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
An interesting read. An old fashioned love story.
A perfect novel. Can’t recommend this one highly enough.
What a book! And what a perfect narrator! (I listened to the audiobook ) Patti Callan[s Becoming Mrs. Lewis is that wonderful historical fiction that spins a yarn about a complex and well-known set of characters with the intensity and freedom to choose themes, plot elements and aspects of character that only fiction allows. More the better that this illuminating novel is meticulously researched and beautifully written. Brava!
I am always looking for a good book to read. Are you? Do you choose it by the cover, who endorses it, the synopsis on a website or are there other criteria you utilize? For me, when choosing a book, I use the previous list and sometimes authors whose other works I have previously enjoyed. Here though is a new author to me, and frankly so is the subject of the historical work of fiction, Joy Davidman. C. S. Lewis’ works I have read but I was totally caught off guard to learn that Mrs. Lewis also wrote prolifically.
While the author concedes that much in the story is from her imagination, she does interject words that were written by Joy for example in her correspondence with C.S. Lewis. The bibliography in the very back of the book has a treasure trove of sources to learn more about Joy Davidman, her faith and her writings. Someday I may just pick up some of them to learn more about the woman behind a well-known man.
The writing pulls readers in and not just mentally but by the heart too! There were times in the story my heart felt heavy just thinking about what Joy might have experienced or felt in different seasons of her life. It is clear from the onset that her father demanded much from her and her mother was elusive, or is that fiction too? You the reader will have to decide.
There were different times I had to put the book down because the scene was somewhat depressing. There were other times I wondered if Joy may have done what action was described in the narrative for real. In either case, the author spurred my desire to want to know who the real Joy Davidman was before she met C. S. Lewis, their relationship and their marriage until her death. Even if it is a work of fiction, I am glad to be spurred on to learn more about this woman from the past, her life, her love and her faith.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have been to London, Cambridge, and Edinburgh so I could just visualize what you were writing about which made it all the more fun. For one to finally find their one true love is all that we all hope for in this life. And when it can happen for a few it makes it all worth it. Thanks for the great read Patti!